OLD TESTAMENT 
k HEROES k 





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COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



OLD TESTAMENT 
HEROES 



OLD TESTAMENT 
HEROES 



A. LIPSKY, Ph.D. 




NEW YORK 

GLOBE BOOK COMPANY 



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£>£* 



COPYBIGHT, 1921, BY 

GLOBE BOOK COMPANY 



AUG lb m\ 



PRESS OF 

BRAUNWORTH & CO. 

BOOK MANUFACTURERS 

BROOKLYN, N. Y. 



©CU624017 






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FOREWORD 




L ELF-RESPECTING persons, young as well 
as old, dislike being talked down to, especi- 
ally in words of one syllable. There are 
of course, many matters beyond the com- 
prehension of children, which no language can make 
intelligible. But much of the zest of the game of 
reading comes from the effort to use the tools of 
grown-ups. Children do not wish to descend to baby- 
talk but to learn the language of men. And, therefore, 
there is no baby-talk in this book. Nor is there any 
lecturing or moralizing. There are only stories, stories 
that have been told more often than any others in our 
part of the world, — and for a very good reason. As 
the source of these stories is the Bible, the sacred book 
of Jews and Christians, it has always been a problem 
what details to include or omit. But why tell stories 
except in so far as they are interesting? Ought not 
that to be the main test? Each story should stand on 
its own feet and hold the attention of the reader by 
virtue of its own dramatic power. We are confident 
the stories in this book will do so. 

A. L. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER PAGE 

I Noah 1 

II Abraham 8 

III Isaac 15 

IV Jacob and Esau 24 

V Joseph 36 

VI Moses 59 

VII Joshua 74 

VIII Gideon 83 

IX Samson 90 

X Samson and Delilah 100 

XI Samuel . 108 

XII Saul 118 

XIII David and Goliath 129 

XIV David and Jonathan . . . . . . . 137 

XV David and Saul 145 

XVI Solomon 156 

XVII Elijah 165 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



Facing 
Page 

The dove returning to Noah 6 

"And they went on together" 16 

Joseph lowered into the pit 38 

Gideon chooses the three hundred 86 

"For this child I prayed" . 110 

David slings the stone 134 



OLD TESTAMENT 
HEROES 



OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 



NOAH 




HE great Flood came because the people 
on the earth were wicked. There were 
giants in those days, and they were 
violent people caring for nothing but 
their own pleasure. The earth was so full of sin 
that God was sorry he had made it. He decided 
to sweep it away and let a new world arise. 

There was one good man named Noah, who 
had three sons, Shem, Ham and Japhet. God 
said to Noah: 

"The end of all flesh is come, for the earth is 
filled with violence. I shall bring a flood of 
water upon the earth to destroy everything that 
has the breath of life in it. But you shall I save. 
Make yourself an ark with many rooms, and you 
shall take with you your wife, your sons and 
their wives, and two of every sort of living thing, 
male and female, to keep alive with you. ' ' 
Noah set to work sure that the flood would 



2 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

come as God had said. He worked hard for 
many a year, assisted by his sons, but he never 
could have accomplished his task if he had not 
been instructed by God. He built the ark of a 
very light wood, called gopher wood, about the 
size of a large ocean liner: four hundred and 
fifty feet long, seventy-five feet wide and forty- 
five feet high. It was in three stories. Near the 
top he placed a window and at one side a door. 
The craft had no rigging or steering gear. It 
was designed only to float. 

Those who saw him at work wondered, what 
Noah intended to do with his big boat- There 
was no water nearby, where such a thing could 
be floated. Some thought him insane. They 
laughed and spoke unkindly of him, but he kept 
at work, and to all who inquired what he meant 
to do with his odd boat, he repeated what God 
had told him — that the people were wicked, and 
that God would bring a flood to drown them all. 
At this they laughed all the more. None thought 
of changing their ways. 

At last the craft was finished. And now Noah 
began collecting of every kind of animal living 
on the earth one pair, male and female. God 
caused hundreds of animals of all kinds to gather 
round the ark. The giants came, too, and looked 
wonderingly at what was happening. Some be- 
gan to feel a fear in their hearts that there might 



NOAH 3 

be something after all in what Noah had said. 
They were tpo proud and stubborn, however, to 
give heed to the inner voice. They laughed it 
down. Noah was a wizard, they said, and had 
some secret power by which he could summon so 
many animals round him. And they thought it 
a good occasion for fun-making. They made 
jokes about the oddness of the animals, — about 
the long-necked giraffes, the humped camels, the 
lumbering elephants, the toad-like hippopot- 
amuses. 

Noah stood at the door of the ark and passed 
the animals in, two by two. There was perfect 
peace among them, although the lion and the 
deer, the wolf and the lamb, the eagle and the 
dove stood side by side before the ark. Some- 
thing seemed to tell them of the seriousness of 
what was about to happen. Not all that came 
could be accepted. Those that crowded round 
the ark were rejected; only those pairs that lay 
down and waited were admitted. 

The heavier animals, like the elephant, rhinoc- 
eros and buffalo, Noah placed in the lower tiers ; 
the smaller animals, like monkeys, dogs, sheep 
and rabbits, were put in the second tier; the 
birds occupied the uppermost story. In the top 
story was also a cabin for Noah, his wife, his 
three sons, and their wives. 

Noah had to use much knowledge and fore- 



4 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

thought in order to provide each animal with the 
food suitable to it — hay for the cattle, meat for 
the flesh-eaters, grain and nuts for the birds. At 
the end of seven days, this too was done, and God 
bade Noah enter the ark with his wife, his sons 
and their wives. 

Then came the deluge. It did not take long 
for the scoffing giants to realize that this was no 
ordinary rain. It seemed as if God had opened 
sluice gates in the sky and let the water through. 
It came down in rivers and in torrents. The 
waters below the earth also rose. The wells and 
springs spouted enormous fountains. The earth 
sent forth water from every pore. The ocean, 
the rivers and lakes boiled and seethed and over- 
flowed their banks. The valleys were soon filled, 
and the water began to creep up to the high land 
where the ark rested. 

The giants at last knew that they were doomed. 
Their shouts of rage could be heard even above 
the roar of the elements. They tried to seize the 
ark, but in their madness crowded one another, so 
that they were helpless to do the harm they 
desired. Soon the ark was lifted from its resting 
place and floated out upon the sea of waters. For 
a time, Noah, from his window in the top of the 
ark, could see the unhappy giants clinging to 
anything that would float, and his heart was 
filled with sorrow and pity, but it was not long 




NOAH 5 

before every living being outside the ark was 
overwhelmed in the foaming flood. 

The people in the ark were awe-stricken at the 
fate of all the inhabitants of the earth. The toss- 
ing of the ark made them fear for their own 
lives, but Noah reassured them. The animals, 
too, were overcome by fright. But as the water 
deepened, the waves became more regular, and 
the ark rode more steadily. 

Forty days and nights the water came down. 
The tops of the highest mountains were covered. 
Nothing was visible but water, water, and sky, 
and the only survivors of all the men and animals 
that had inhabited the earth were in the ark with 
Noah. 

After forty days and forty nights the rain 
stopped, and the water ceased to rise. The 
sky became clear; the sun began to shine once 
more. Noah waited patiently for the waters to 
go down. At last he opened the window and let 
out the raven, but the raven was unwilling to 
leave its safe position, and only flew back and 
forth around the ark. Then he sent out the dove, 
which found no dry land to rest upon, and soon 
came back. Seven days later he sent out the dove 
again. This time she returned with an olive leaf 
in her mouth. He knew thereby that somewhere 
land had been exposed. He waited seven days 
more and sent forth the dove again. She never 



6 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

returned to him. She had found dry land. The 
tops of the mountains began to appear and at 
length the ark grounded on Mt. Ararat. 

On that day God said to him : ' ' Come out of the 
ark, you and your wife, and your sons and their 
wives, and bring with you all the living things, 
all the animals, the birds, the cattle, the creeping 
things that creep on the earth, and let them go 
out upon the earth and be fruitful and multi- 
ply." 

Then Noah let out all the occupants of the ark, 
and glad they were to tread the earth again after 
their long confinement. In gratitude to God 
Noah built an altar and thanked Him for the 
wonderful escape of all the living beings in the 
ark. God accepted the offering, and He said: "I 
will not again curse the ground any more for 
man's sake; neither will I again smite any more 
every thing living as I have done. While the 
earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold 
and heat, and summer and winter, and day and 
night shall not cease/ ' 

And God blessed Noah and his sons in this 
way: "Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish 
the earth. The fear of you and the dread of you 
shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon 
every fowl of the air, upon all that moves upon 
the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea ; into 
your hands are they delivered." 




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NOAH 7 

And as a token of his promise to man, He made 
the rainbow which He hangs in the sky when it 
rains — as a sign that the waters shall never more 
become a flood to destroy all life. 

After the solemn ceremony of thanksgiving, 
the animals dispersed to their various dens and 
lairs and ranges. Noah and his sons set to work 
to rebuild their homes. They began to prepare 
the land and to plant seed which they had saved. 
In time, large families grew up around Noah and 
his sons, and the earth became populated again 
with their descendants. Such wickedness as had 
existed before the flood never rose again, and 
Noah lived three hundred and fifty years after 
the flood, and died when he was nine hundred 
and fifty years old. 




ABRAHAM 



OD said to Abraham: "Get you up out 
of your country ! Leave your kindred 
and your father's house, and go to the 
land that I will show you ! I will make 
a great nation of you. I will bless you, and in 
you shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. ' ' 

Abraham did as the Lord said. 

He departed, taking his wife, Sarah, with him, 
and Lot, his brother's son. They drove their 
flocks and herds before them and moved into the 
land of Canaan. The Canaanites were still 
there, but the greater part of the land was free 
to herdsmen like Abraham and Lot who drove 
their flocks and herds from place to place always 
seeking fresh pastures. At Sichem, in the plain 
of Moreh, God appeared to Abraham in a dream 
and said : 

"Unto your children will I give this land!" 

When he awoke he built an altar to God on 
that spot. 

He went on and pitched his tent on a mountain 
at Bethel, between Bethel and Hai. There he 



ABRAHAM 9 

built another altar and went on always towards 
the South. 

At last Abraham and Lot settled down in 
Canaan, and their flocks and herds and tents 
multiplied. Then there began to be clashes be- 
tween the herdsmen of Abraham and those of 
Lot. They could not agree upon the boundaries 
of their pastures. So one day Abraham said to 
Lot: 

"Let there be no strife between you and me, 
or between my herdsmen and yours, for we are 
brethren! There is the whole land before you. 
Separate yourself from me ! If you will take the 
left hand, I will go to the right ; and if you go to 
the right, I will take the left !" 

Lot cast his eyes about and beheld the fertile 
valley of the Jordan, well- watered, like a garden. 
Lot chose the valley of the Jordan, and he and 
his flocks moved eastward and separated them- 
selves from Abraham and his flocks. He settled 
in the plain near the cities of Sodom and Gomor- 
rah. 

And when Lot was gone, God said to Abra- 
ham: "Lift up your eyes, and look north, south, 
east and west ! All the land that you see I will 
give to your descendants forever! I will make 
them as the dust of the earth, which no man can 
number." 

Then Abraham moved his tent to the plain of 



10 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

Mamre and near Hebron he built another altar 
to God and worshipped Him. 

II 

It was some time after this that God appeared 
to Abraham as he sat in his tent door in the heat 
of the day, Abraham raised his eyes, and there 
were three men approaching. He ran to meet 
them and bowed to the ground, saying to the 
foremost of them: 

"My lord, if you will favor me, pray, stop and 
let me have some water fetched that you may 
wash your feet and rest yourselves under the 
tree. I will bring a bit of bread and after you 
have refreshed yourselves, you may go on." 

They replied: "Do as you have said." 

Abraham hastened into the tent to his wife 
Sarah and asked her to bake some cakes. Then 
he brought meat, butter and milk and stood by 
them under a tree while they ate. 

And after they had eaten they arose and turned 
towards Sodom. Abraham went with them to 
set them on the right way. 

Then the leader of the three said to Abraham : 
"Because of the great rumor of the wickedness 
of Sodom and Gomorrah I am going now to see 
whether they have really done all that is said of 
them." 

The other two had already started in the direc- 



ABRAHAM 11 

tion of Sodom, but Abraham remained standing 
with the leader. 

"Will" you also destroy the good with the 
bad?" he asked. " There may be fifty good men 
in the city, will you not spare the place for the 
fifty righteous that are therein ? You would not 
slay the righteous with the wicked! Far be it 
from you, that the righteous should be treated as 
the wicked ! Shall not the judge of all the earth 
do right?" 

The Lord, for it was He, replied : 

"If I find in Sodom fifty good men, I will 
spare the city for their sakes." 

Abraham continued: "Lo, I have taken upon 
me to speak to the Lord, who am but dust and 
ashes ! But there may lack five of the fifty good 
men; will you destroy the city for lack of five?" 

And God said : 

"If I find there forty-five, I will not destroy 
it!" 

But Abraham continued to plead ; what if there 
were forty, thirty, twenty, ten, good people in 
Sodom, would the Judge of all the earth destroy 
them with the wicked? 

And God said: "I will save the city for the 
sake of ten." 

Abraham dared plead no more. But in all 
Sodom there was but one good man, and he was 
saved. 



12 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

III 

The two angels came to Sodom in the evening. 
Lot was sitting in the city gate, and, seeing the 
strangers, he arose to meet them and hospitably 
invited them to spend the night at his house. 

They at first declined, saying that they would 
pass the night in the street. 
- % He urged them greatly, and finally they con- 
sented and entered his house. He gave them 
food, and entertained them generously. 

It was bed-time, when they heard an uproar 
in the street. Lot went to the door. The street 
was crowded with people, old and young, men 
from every part of the city. They surrounded 
the house, and they yelled : 

" Where are those strangers that came into 
your house this evening? Bring them out! 
Bring them out!" 

Lot stepped into the street and closed the door 
behind him. 

" Please do no harm to those men," he said. 
"They are under my protection; they are my 
guests." 

' ' Stand back ! ' ' yelled the crowd. ' ' This fel- 
low is himself a stranger in the town. He wants 
to lecture us ! We '11 show him ! Pull him out ! ' 9 

Those in the front of the crowd made a rush 
forward. Quick as lightning, the door was 



ABRAHAM 13 

opened, Lot was snatched back by the angels in- 
side, and the door was shut. The crowd now 
began pounding at the door and they would soon 
have broken it in, but the angels smote them with 
blindness, both small and great, and they wore 
themselves out trying to find the door. 

The angels now said to Lot : "Have you anyone 
else here, sons or daughters? If there are any 
you hold dear, bring them out of this place, for 
the Lord has sent us to destroy it." 

Lot had two sons-in-law in the city. He slipped 
out in the darkness and made his way to where 
they lived. 

"Up, and get you out of this place, for God is 
about to destroy the city !" he cried. 

But the sons-in-law laughed. The old man 
must be crazy, they thought. Where was there 
any sign of danger ? They told him to run back 
home, and not worry. 

Dawn was approaching when he returned. 

"Arise, take your wife and your two daugh- 
ters which are here, and flee, lest you be con- 
sumed in the iniquity of this city," said the 
angels. 

Lot moved as if dazed. The angels took him 
by the hand, and also took his wife and his 
daughters. They led them forth and set them 
outside the city. There the angels left Lot, his 
wife and daughters. 



14 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

"Run for your lives/ ' they said. "Look not 
behind you and do not stop on the plain ! Escape 
to the mountain, lest you be consumed !" 

Then God rained upon Sodom and also upon 
Gomorrah hailstone and fire from heaven. A 
heavy cloud of smoke covered the sky. Now and 
then it was lit up, so that it seemed one sheet of 
flame. The earth shook with thunder. Hot 
ashes fell swiftly like snow in a blizzard. Fire 
ran along the ground. Lot and his daughters 
strained every nerve to reach a place of safety, 
but his wife, forgetting the command of the 
angels, turned around to look. Instantly she was 
changed into a pillar of salt! And the cities 
of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all the people in 
them, were buried under fire and ashes. 

That morning Abraham, rising early to pray, 
saw the smoke in the direction of Sodom, and 
knew that the evil city was no more. He did not 
know then that his friend had been saved, but a 
great trust in God's mercy filled his heart. 




ISAAC 



OME time after these things, God tested 
Abraham. He called to him and said: 
"Take now your son, your only son 
Isaac, whom you love, and get you to the 
land of Moriah and offer him there as a sacrifice 
upon one of the mountains that I will show 
you!" 

Abraham rose early in the morning, sad- 
dled his ass, and took two servants with him, and 
Isaac, his son. He split wood for the sacrifice 
and set out for the place of which God had told 
him. They traveled three days, and on the 
third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the 
place afar off. 

He said to his servants: "Stay here with the 
ass and I and the lad will go yonder and worship 
and come back again to you." 

He took the fire and the knife ; Isaac carried 
the wood, and they went both of them together. 

After a short time Isaac said to Abraham, 
"Father!" 

Abraham said: "What is it, my son?" 

15 



16 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

And Isaac said: "Here is the fire and the 
wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offer- 
ing?" 

Abraham replied: "My son, God himself will 
provide a lamb for a burnt-offering." 

And the boy understood- 

So they went on together in silence. 

At last they came to the place which God had 
told him of, and Abraham built an altar and laid 
the wood upon it in order. Then he bound Isaac, 
his son, and laid him upon the wood. And 
Abraham stretched forth his hand and took the 
knife to slay his son, when the angel of God 
called to him out of heaven, saying : 

' i Abraham ! Abraham ! * ' 

He answered: "Here I am." 

And the angel said: "Lay not your hand 
upon the lad ; do nothing to him ; for now I know 
that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld 
your son, your only son from me." 

Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and 
there was a ram caught in the thicket by his 
horns. And Abraham went and took the ram 
and offered him up for a burnt-offering instead 
of his son. 

Then the angel of God called to Abraham out 
of heaven a second time and said: "I have sworn 
because you have done this thing and have not 
withheld your son, your only son, that I will 




AND THEY WENT ON TOGETHER. 



ISAAC 17 

multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven 
and as the sand which is upon the seashore, and 
in them shall all the nations of the earth be 
blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.' ' 

Abraham returned to his young men and they 
arose and went together to Beer-Sheba, where 
Abraham dwelt. 

II 

Now, when Isaac was grown to be a young man 
his mother, Sarah, died and Abraham was old 
and well stricken in age, and the Lord blessed 
Abraham in all things. 

Abraham summoned the eldest servant of his 
house who ruled over all that he had and said: 
"Swear to me by the Lord, the God of heaven 
and of earth, that you will not take a wife for my 
son from the daughters of the Canaanites among 
whom I dwell; but will go to my country, and 
take a wife for my son Isaac from among my 
kindred.' ' 

The servant said to him: "What if the woman 
will not be willing to follow me to this land ; must 
I then bring your son again to the land whence 
you came?" 

And Abraham replied: "Be sure that you do 
not bring my son back there again! The Lord 
God of heaven who took me from my father's 
house and from the land of my kindred and who 



18 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

spoke to me, saying, "Unto your children's chil- 
dren will I give this land/ He shall send His 
angel before you and you shall take a wife for 
my son from my father's country. If the woman 
will not be willing to follow you, you shall be 
clear of your oath, but do not bring my son back 
there again/ ' 

Eliezer, the servant, swore to do as Abraham 
wished. He had charge of all the property of his 
master. He took ten camels, loaded them with 
provisions and gifts and set out for Mesopota- 
mia, the land from which Abraham had departed 
many years ago at the command of God. 

It was evening when Eliezer came to a well out- 
side the city of Nahor, the time when the women 
go out to draw water for the morrow. Eliezer 
made his camels kneel and he sat down by the 
side of the well, and prayed : 

"O Lord, God of my master Abraham, I pray 
Thee prosper me in my mission. I stand here by 
this well and the daughters of the men of the city 
come out to draw water. Let it come to pass that 
the damsel to whom I shall say 'Let down your 
pitcher that I may drink/ and she says ' Drink, 
and I will give your camels to drink also/ the 
same shall be the one Thou hast appointed for 
my master's son Isaac!" 

It happened that before he had done speaking, 
Rebekah, daughter of Bethuel, who was the son 



i 



ISAAC 19 

of Abraham's brother Nahor (after whom the 
city was named) came out with her pitcher on 
her shoulder. She was a beautiful girl. She 
went down to the well, filled her pitcher and then 
came up the path again. 

Eliezer ran to meet her and said: " Please let 
me drink a little water from your pitcher/ ' 

She replied instantly: " Drink, sir!" and 
quickly let down the pitcher upon her hand that 
he might drink. 

When he had finished she said: "I will draw 
water for your camels, too," and she hurried and 
emptied her pitcher into the trough and ran 
again to the well, and drew for all his camels. 

The man, wondering at her, held his peace. 
Had God thus made his journey successful? 

" Whose daughter are you?" he asked. "Is 
there room in your father's house for us to 
lodge?" 

"I am the daughter of Bethuel, who was the 
son of Nahor," she replied, and added, "We 
have straw for the camels and provender enough, 
and there is room to lodge in." 

Eliezer took out a pair of golden earrings and 
a pair of bracelets and put them on her. Then he 
bowed his head and silently worshipped God : 

"Blessed be the God of my master Abraham," 
he thought, "who has led me to the very house of 
my master's brethren." 



20 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

Meanwhile, the girl had run and told those at 
home of what had occurred at the well. 

She had a brother named Laban, and when he 
saw the earrings, and bracelets and heard 
Rebekah's story he ran out, and there was the 
man standing by the camels at the well ! 

i ' Come in, friend!" he said. "Why do you 
stand out here ? The house is ready for you, and 
there is ample room for the camels." 

Eliezer followed him, unharnessed the camels, 
spread straw for them and gave them food. Then 
he washed himself and went in. His supper was 
ready for him, but he said: "I will not eat until 
I have told my errand." 

' Speak on, ' ' said Laban. 

'I am Abraham's servant," began Eliezer. 
"God has blessed my master greatly. He has 
given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, and 
men-servants and maid-servants, and camels and 
asses. Sarah, my master's wife, bore him a son, 
and to him has he given all that he has. One day 
my master made me swear an oath: 'You shall 
not take a wife for my son from among the 
daughters of the Canaanites in whose land I 
dwell/ he said, ' but you shall go to my father's 
house, to my kindred, and there find a wife for 
him.' 

"I replied," continued Eliezer, "that perhaps 
she would not follow me. And Abraham said to 



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ISAAC 21 

me: 'God, before whom I walk, will send His 
angel with you and prosper your way. But if 
you come to my kindred and they do not give you 
a wife for my son, you shall be free of your oath. ' 
To-day I came to the well outside the city and 
resolved that I would be guided by this sign : that 
when I asked a girl, who came to draw water, to 
let me drink, and she let me drink and also 
offered to water the camels, that girl should 
be the one destined for my master's son. And 
before I had done thinking to myself, Eebekah 
came forth with her pitcher on her shoulder. 
She went down to the well and drew water, and I 
said to her: 'Let me drink, please.' She quickly 
let down her pitcher from her shoulder and said : 
'Drink, and I will give your camels water, too.' 
So I drank, and she made the camels drink, too. 
And when I asked her whose daughter she was 
and she said 'The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor's 
son,' I gave her the bracelets and earrings and 
bowed my head and worshipped God and blessed 
the Lord God of my master Abraham who had 
led me in the right way to take my master's kins- 
woman for his son. 

"And now," concluded Eliezer, "if you mean 
to act kindly and honestly with my master, tell 
me frankly how you take my proposal, that I 
may know whether to turn to the right hand or 
to the left." 



22 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

Then Laban answered: "This thing proceeds 
from God. It is not for us to tell you good or 
bad. There is Rebekah before you. Take her, 
and let her be your master's son's wife, as God 
has intended.'' 

When Abraham's servant heard these words, 
he again bowed his head and worshipped God. 
Then he brought forth jewels of gold and jewels 
of silver and gave them to Rebekah. He gave 
also precious things to her brother and her 
mother. Then he and the men who were with 
him ate and drank and they rested there that 
night. 

In the morning Eliezer said: "Now let me 
return to my master!" 

But the mother and brother of Rebekah 
replied: "Let the damsel stay with us a week or 
ten days! After that she shall go with you." 

But Eliezer was impatient to return to his 
master. God had prospered his way and he was 
eager to bring the good news. 

"We will call the girl, and let her decide," said 
Rebekah 's mother and brother. 

They called Rebekah and said to her: "Will 
you go with this man?" 

And she replied: "I will go!" 

So they sent her, and also her old nurse and 
several companions. 



ISAAC 23 

Rebekah and her attendants rode upon the 
camels, following Eliezer, who led the way. 

Now Isaac had gone out into the fields one 
evening to meditate. He raised his head and 
there were the camels coming. 

Rebekah had seen him, too, and asked Eliezer : 
"What man is this walking in the fields to meet 
us?" 

"It is my master," said Eliezer. 

Whereupon she alighted from her camel and 
covered her face with her veil. 

Eliezer, as they walked on, told Isaac all that 
had happened, and Isaac led Rebekah into his 
mother Sarah's tent into the presence of Abra- 
ham. And the old man blessed them and she be- 
came Isaac's wife and he loved her. And Isaac 
was comforted for the loss of his mother. 




JACOB AND ESAU 



JACOB and Esau were twins ; but Jacob 
was quiet and thoughtful, while Esau 
was rough and boisterous. Esau's body 
was covered with red hair, but Jacob's 
skin was smooth as a girl's. Esau having been 
born a few minutes before his brother, had all 
the rights of the oldest. He would some day take 
his father's place as head of the family. Isaac 
loved him, but Rachel loved Jacob more. 

When they grew up, Esau became a hunter; 
Jacob tended the sheep. One day, Jacob was 
cooking near his tent. He was stirring a pot of 
lentils, when Esau came staggering up and threw 
his bow and quiver upon the ground. 

"Give me some of those lentils! I am 
starved," he said hoarsely. "I have been hunt- 
ing all day and brought down nothing." 

"What will you give me for your dinner?" 
asked Jacob, quietly continuing his occupation. 

"Anything you wish," replied Esau. 

"Will you give me your birthright?" asked 
Jacob carelessly. 

24 



JACOB AND ESAU 25 

"My birthright "!" laughed Esau. "Nothing 
more ? Gladly ! I had forgotten all about it. It 
is yours !" 

Jacob gave his brother of the food he had been 
cooking. 

And so, for a mess of pottage, Esau sold his 
birthright. He parted with it lightly, and gave 
it no further thought. 

Jacob, however, was very much in earnest. 

Now it came to pass that when Isaac was old 
and his eyes were dim so that he could not see, he 
called Esau, his eldest son, and said to him: 

"My son, I am old, and know not the day of 
my death. Take your bow and quiver, and go 
out and bring me some venison, and broil it in 
the way I love, and I will bless you before I die." 

Rebekah overheard what Isaac said to Esau. 
When Esau had set out on his hunt she called 
Jacob and said to him : 

"I heard your father tell Esau to go out in the 
field and bring him some fresh venison, and 
afterwards he would bless him before his death. 
Now, my son, do what I bid you! Go to your 
flock and fetch me two good kids and I will pre- 
pare meat such as your father loves ! You shall 
bring it to him, that he may eat and that he may 
bless you before his death. ' ' 

Jacob said to his mother : 

"But my brother Esau is a hairy man, while 



26 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

I am smooth-skinned. My father may feel of 
me, and I shall seem to him a deceiver. Then I 
shall bring a curse upon myself and not a bless- 
ing." 

"Upon me be the curse, my son!" said Re- 
bekah, "but obey my voice and go fetch me the 
kids!" 

Jacob did as his mother bade him, and she 
prepared the flesh of the kids, as she well knew 
how, to please Isaac 's taste, and with their skins 
she covered Jacob's hands and the smooth of his 
neck. Then she took some of the clothes of Esau 
that were in the house and put them upon Jacob. 

Jacob came to his father and said : 

"Here I am." 

"Who are you, my son?" asked Isaac. 

"I am Esau, your first-born," replied Jacob. 
"I have done as you bade me. Take and eat my 
venison and bless me!" 

"How is it that you have found it so quickly, 
my son?" asked Isaac. 

And Jacob replied: "Because the Lord your 
God brought it to me." 

"Come near, that I may feel you whether you 
really are my son Esau or not," said Isaac. 

Jacob went nearer to his father, and Isaac felt 
him. He did not detect him, for his hands were 
hairy as Esau's. 

"The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are 



JACOB AND ESAU 27 

the hands of Esau, ' ' said Isaac. ' ' Are you really 
my son Esau?" 

"I am," answered Jacob. 

Then Isaac said: " Bring it to me, and I will 
eat of my son's venison/ ' 

He ate, and Jacob brought him wine, and he 
drank. 

Then Isaac said: "Come closer, and kiss 
me." 

Jacob did so. 

And Isaac smelled the smell of his raiment, 
and he said : 

"See, the smell of my son's garments is as a 
field that God has blessed! God give you the 
dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and 
grain and wine! Let people serve you, and 
nations bow down to you!" 

So he blessed him with riches and with power. 

As soon as Isaac had made an end of blessing 
Jacob, and Jacob was scarcely gone from his 
presence, Esau returned from his hunting. He 
had prepared his venison, and when he brought 
it in to his father, Isaac asked : 

"Who are you?" 

Esau replied: "I am Esau, your first-born." 

Isaac began to tremble violently. 

"Who?" he asked again. "Where is he that 
brought venison of which I ate and whom I 
blessed?" 



28 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

When Esau heard these words he gave a great 
and bitter cry. 

" Bless me also, O father !" he said. 

" Your brother came subtly and has taken 
away your blessing," said Isaac. 

"Have you but one blessing, father V 9 pleaded 
Esau. "O father, bless me also!" and he lifted 
up his voice and wept. 

Then Isaac blessed Esau also, with a different 
blessing. Riches and power he gave him ; but he 
made him inferior to his brother. 

From that day Esau hated his brother Jacob 
intensely, and he said in his heart : 

"The days of mourning for my father will 
soon be here, and then will I kill Jacob." 

His muttered threat having been overheard, 
was told to Rebekah, and she summoned Jacob 
and said: 

"Your brother is consoling himself with the 
thought of killing you. Now listen to me: Get 
everything ready quickly and flee to my brother 
Laban in Haran! Stay there until your 
brother's fury has died away! When I see that 
he has forgotten his grievance against you I will 
send and fetch you." 

Jacob obeyed his mother. Quickly he made 
his preparations and set out for Haran. 

When night fell he was in an open field. No 
shelter was in view. He took stones, and spread 



JACOB AND ESAU 29 

his mantle upon them for a pillow and lay down 
under the stars to sleep. He dreamed that a 
ladder stood near his head, and angels were pass- 
ing up and down. At the top was God himself. 
And God said : 

"I am the God of Abraham and of Isaac. The 
land upon which you lie will I give to your 
descendants and they shall be numerous as the 
dust of the earth. I will go with you wherever 
you go and bring you again into this land." 

Jacob awoke while it was yet dark and he was 
afraid. 

" Surely God is in this place and I did not 
know it, ' ' he thought. \ i How fearful it is ! This 
must be the gate of heaven!" 

In the morning his courage returned and he 
made a vow that if God would be with him he 
would worship God alone. 

Then he continued his journey, until he came 
to the land of the People of the East. 

There was a well in the field there and three 
flocks of sheep were lying around it waiting to 
be watered. The shepherds sat around with 
their sheep. A great stone covered the mouth of 
the well. Jacob said to the shepherds : 

" Friends, from whence are you?" 

They answered: "We are from Haran." 

"Do you know Laban, the son of Nahar?" he 
asked. 



30 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

"We know him," they answered. 

"Is he well?" asked Jacob. 

"He is well," they replied, "and here comes 
his daughter Rachel with her sheep." 

"Why do you not water your sheep and let 
them go and feed more; it is yet high -day?" 
asked Jacob. 

"We cannot until all the shepherds are 
gathered together, and they all help in rolling 
that heavy stone from the mouth of the well. 
Then we water the sheep," replied the shepherds. 

While they were speaking, Rachel, the daugh- 
ter of Laban, Rebekah's brother, came with her 
father's sheep; for she tended them. 

When Jacob saw Rachel and her sheep, he 
went up to the well, and himself rolled the stone 
from the well's mouth, and watered the flock. 

Then he kissed Rachel, and told her that he 
was Rebekah's son, and she ran and told her 
father. When Laban heard the news about his 
sister's son, he ran to meet him and embraced 
him, and kissed him, and brought him to his 
house. 



II 



Jacob stayed with Laban a month, helping 
him with the sheep, and Laban said : 

"Because you are my sister's son shall you 



JACOB AND ESAU 31 

work for me for nothing ? What wages shall I 
give you?" 

Now, Jacob loved Rachel, and he said : 

"If you will give me Rachel in marriage I will 
serve you seven years." 

Laban was willing, and Jacob served him 
seven years for Rachel. They seemed to him 
only a few days because of the love he had for 
her. 

When the seven years were up, Jacob 
demanded his wife of Laban. 

But Laban had an older daughter named Leah, 
who was not so beautiful as Rachel. She suf- 
fered from red eyes. Laban appeared to consent 
readily to the marriage of Jacob and Rachel. 
He called all his people together and made a 
great feast, and Jacob was happy. 

But when he was alone with his bride, he dis- 
covered that he had been married to Leah instead 
of Rachel. 

He rushed to Laban. 

"What is this you have done to me?" he cried. 
"Did I not serve you for Rachel ? Why have you 
deceived me?" 

"It is not the custom in our country to let the 
younger marry before the first-born," replied 
Laban coolly. "You may have Rachel, too, if 
you will serve seven more years for her." 



32 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

In those days men might have more than one 
wife. 

Jacob consented. He was married to Rachel 
also, and served Laban seven more years. 

Twenty years in all did Jacob stay with Laban. 
He had many children and flocks and herds, but 
at last he wished to return to his native land. 

But Laban refused to let him go. Jacob was 
too good a manager to lose, and Laban wished to 
keep the whole property undivided. Finally he 
consented, and then, when Jacob with his family 
and his flocks and herds was on the road, Laban 
changed his mind. He followed the caravan and 
when he had come up with it, pretended that his 
daughter Rachel had stolen some of his images. 
He searched her baggage but found nothing, and 
was compelled at last to give his daughters and 
their children his blessing, and return home. 



Ill 



During the years that Jacob had been living 
with Laban and increasing in prosperity, his 
brother Esau, too, had grown in power. He had 
become chieftain of a warlike tribe in Seir, 
through which Jacob must pass on his way to his 
native land. 

Jacob sent messengers ahead to Esau in Seir. 

"Tell him," he said, "that I have been so- 
journing with Laban and have stayed there until 



JACOB AND ESAU 33 

now, and I have oxen and asses, flocks and men- 
servants and women servants, and I have sent to 
tell all this to my lord that he may be well dis- 
posed toward me." 

The messengers returned to Jacob with the 
words : 

"We came to your brother Esau. He is com- 
ing to meet you, and there are four hundred men 
with him." 

At this Jacob was greatly distressed and 
afraid. He divided his people and the flocks and 
herds and camels into two bands. 

"If Esau comes upon one company and at- 
tacks it," he thought, "the other company will be 
able to escape." 

Then he took two hundred she-goats and 
twenty he-goats, two hundred ewes and twenty 
rams, thirty milch camels with their colts, forty" 
cows and ten bulls, twenty she-asses and ten 
foals, and he gave them to his servants and 
ordered them to go ahead, keeping each drove 
separate, and when they met Esau and he asked 
to whom they belonged and where they were 
going, to say that they belonged to Jacob, and 
that it was a present to my lord Esau. And the 
servant in charge of each drove as he came along 
in succession was to say: "Your servant Jacob is 
behind us." 

"I will appease him with the present that goes 
before me," said Jacob, "and afterward I will 



34 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

see him face to face. Perhaps he will forgive 
me." 

That night Jacob spent alone in great anguish 
of spirit. The suffering of that night left its 
marks upon him forever. He became a changed 
man. 

In the morning he looked up, and there was 
Esau coming with his four hundred men. How 
would the brother he had tricked deal with him 
now, when he was so defenseless ¥ 

Jacob went on ahead of the women and chil- 
dren to meet his brother. He bowed as he went 
forward seven times until he came near to his 
brother, but Esau ran to meet him, embraced 
him and kissed him. And they both wept. 

When Esau raised his head and saw the 
women and children, he asked : 

"Who are those with you?" 

Jacob replied: "They are the children which 
God has graciously given to your servant." 

Then the women and children approached in 
groups and bowed themselves before Esau. 

After this Esau asked: "What mean you by 
all that drove of animals that I met?" 

Jacob replied: "Those are to win me favor in 
your eyes, my lord." 

"I have enough, my brother," said Esau. 
"Keep what you have to yourself!" 

But Jacob urged him. 



JACOB AND ESAU 35 

" Please, if I have found favor with you, 
accept my present! When I saw your face, it 
was as if I had seen the face of God. You were 
pleased with me. Take, I pray you, the blessing 
that is brought to you, for God has dealt bounti- 
fully with me, and I have plenty.' ' 

And, being urged thus, EsaU accepted. 

He proposed that they continue their journey 
together, but Jacob pleaded that his women and 
children and flocks and herds could not maintain 
the pace of Esau's armed band. Then Esau 
offered to leave some of his men as guard. But 
Jacob thanked him, saying there was no need. 

So Esau went on his way to Seir, and Jacob, 
after a pause at Succoth, and again at Shaleni, 
finally returned to his home in Mamre. 




JOSEPH 



ACOB loved Joseph more than all his 
children. He made him a coat of many 
colors, which Joseph wore proudly, but 
his ten brothers — Benjamin was still an 
infant — seeing how their father loved him more 
than them, hated him and could not speak peace- 
ably to him. Joseph did not observe this, for he 
was absorbed in his own thoughts. He was 
seventeen years old and watched the flocks with 
his brothers. 

One day, when the brothers were gathered to- 
gether at meal time, Joseph startled them by say- 
ing: 

' ' I had a strange dream last night ! We were 
binding sheaves in the field and my sheaf arose 
and stood upright and your sheaves stood around 
and made obeisance to my sheaf. ' ' 

"Does that mean that you will reign over us?" 
they asked sarcastically. "Will you have do- 
minion over us?" 

Joseph innocently knew nothing of what was 
going on in their hearts. 

36 



JOSEPH 37 

He had another dream another day and told it 
to them again. 

"I dreamed that the sun and the moon and 
eleven stars made obeisance to me," he said. 

He told it to his father too. 

Jacob rebuked him : 

"What sort of foolish dream is this that you 
have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and 
your brothers come and bow ourselves to you to 
the earth ?" 

The old man, however, treasured in his heart 
what Joseph had said. 

Sometimes Joseph stayed with his father while 
his brothers fed their flocks in the distant pas- 
tures. One day Jacob said to Joseph : 

"Your brothers have been gone a long time in 
Shechem ; will you not go and see whether all is 
well with them and with the flocks?" 

Joseph gladly undertook the errand. He liked 
to be out in the open with his brothers and the 
sheep. When he came to the region of 
Shechem he found no trace of his brothers. As 
he was wandering about in the fields, he met a 
stranger, who asked him what he was seeking. 
Joseph told him, and asked whether he had seen 
the brothers and their flocks. 

"I saw them in this place," replied the 
stranger, "and heard them say they were going 
to Dothan." 



38 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

So Joseph set out for Dothan. 

The brothers were sitting under an oak tree 
preparing to eat their noonday meal when they 
saw Joseph approaching over the plain. 

"Here comes the dreamer !" exclaimed Gad. 

"Perhaps he is coming to tell us again how we 
bowed down to him!" growled Issachar. 

"We ought to put an end to these fancies of 
his," muttered Dan. 

They looked gloomily at one another. They 
began to whisper hurriedly, excitedly. Their 
anger rose as they talked and finally they re- 
solved to slay him and cast him into one of the 
many pits that were in that region. 

"We will say that some evil beast has devoured 
him," said Naphtali. 

"We will see how his dreams will come true," 
put in Asher. 

Reuben, the eldest, had been sitting somewhat 
apart from the rest. When he heard what they 
had resolved upon, he became sick at heart, but 
he dared not show the strength of his horror at 
their scheme, for they were ten to one. He 
appeared to consent. 

"Let us not kill him," he suggested. 

His brothers looked at him. 

"Why should we shed blood?" he added 
quickly. "Here are these pits in the desert. Let 
us cast him into one of them and leave him!" 




JOSEPH LOWERED INTO THE PIT. 



JOSEPH 39 

' ' Reuben is right, ' ' said Judah. ' ' Why should 
we have the boy's blood on our hands? Let us 
throw him into a pit." 

He looked intelligently at Reuben. 

The proposal pleased the others. 

They adopted it. 

Joseph came on unsuspectingly. He was about 
to embrace Reuben, when he was seized from 
behind. His coat of many colors was torn from 
his body. They dragged him to one of the pits 
that was near by and dropped him in. 

"Here, let him have a bite while he is with 
his humble brothers," said Reuben with assumed 
roughness, and threw a handful of dates and 
some bread down into the pit before anyone 
could question his act. 

The brothers then sat down under the oak to 
eat their noonday meal ; but Reuben did not sit 
with them. He walked away out of their sight 
to be alone. 

They had almost finished their meal when, 
looking up, they saw a caravan coming from 
Gilead. It was a company of Ishmaelites. 

As the Ishmaelites drew up they dismounted 
from their camels and exchanged greetings with 
the brothers. They were bound, they said, for 
Egypt, whither they were taking spices, balm 
and myrrh. 

Judah now took his brothers aside. 



40 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

"What good will it do us if we let our brother 
perish in the pit and hide his blood ?" he asked. 
"Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites and not 
be guilty of his death. He is our brother after 
all, our own flesh and blood.' ' 

The brothers had been thinking, each for him- 
self. Their ferocity had had time to cool. They 
agreed with Judah. 

The Ishmaelites were glad to buy a slave and 
ask no questions. They counted out the price, 
twenty pieces of silver, and the deal was closed. 
Then the brothers having lowered a rope into the 
pit, Joseph fastened it around his waist and was 
drawn up. 

He was dazed by what had happened. He did 
not understand. He neither resisted nor begged, 
but followed his new masters, who placed him 
on a camel and resumed their journey. 

In the evening the brothers camped a short 
distance from the pit, but Reuben had not re- 
joined them. He had wandered a long distance, 
thinking sorrowfully of the crime the brothers 
were planning and trying to find a way to pre- 
vent them. As soon as darkness fell, he made 
his way back to the pit. He knelt down at the 
edge. All was black below. He listened. There 
was no sound. Then he called softly : 

"Joseph!" 

No reply! Again he called, and again. He 



JOSEPH 41 

was alarmed. He lowered a torch into the pit 
and saw that it was empty. He rushed wildly to 
the camp. 

"The boy is gone !" he cried. 

The brothers looked at him in surprise. 

"We know it!" said Zebulon sullenly. 

"He is on the way to Egypt/' added Issachar. 

"We changed our minds, " said Dan, "and 
Judah sold him." 

Judah explained what had happened. 

"What shall I do? Where shall I go?" 
groaned Reuben. 

He was the oldest of the twelve, and a strong 
man. 

The others looked down. Nobody spoke for a 
long time. 

How were they to face their father? How 
would they explain the loss of Joseph? They 
decided to stick to the story that he had been 
devoured by a wild beast. 

The next day they slew a kid and dipped 
Joseph's coat of many colors in the blood. This 
they brought with them to their father. 

They came into their father's presence with 
lowered eyes, and Gad took the blood-stained 
coat up to Jacob. 

"We have found this," he said. "You know 
whether it is your son Joseph's coat or not?" 

Jacob started up. 



42 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

" It is my son 's coat ! ' ' he cried. i i A wild beast 
has killed him ! My Joseph is torn in pieces ! ' ' 

He covered his face and sobbed. And after a 
while he arose, rent his clothes and put sackcloth 
upon him. In this mourning garb he went about 
for many days. 

"I will go down into the grave to my son 
mourning/' he said. 

But Joseph was carried to Egypt, where he 
was sold by the Ishmaelites as a slave. 

II 

Joseph's master in Egypt was Potiphar, cap- 
tain of the king's guard. He was a man of great 
property and employed Joseph upon his estate. 
Soon he noticed Joseph's intelligence, and gave 
him more responsible duties. Whatever Joseph 
did, he did well. In time, he was made overseer 
of his master's whole estate. Everything that 
Potiphar had he put into Joseph's hands. Poti- 
phar freed himself from all business cares. He 
did not know what he had except the food he ate. 

Joseph was handsome, as well as clever, but he 
paid no attention to the ladies in Potiphar 's 
household. This made the captain's young wife 
jealous. She felt it to be a crime for any youth 
to be indifferent to her. Life with her was one 
flirtation after another. 



JOSEPH 43 

One day, when Potiphar was away from home, 
Joseph had occasion to go into the house. Poti- 
phar 's wife intentionally put herself in his way. 
Joseph greeted her coolly and passed on. The 
lady became incensed. She rushed at him, seized 
his coat, and raised an outcry. Joseph left his 
coat in her hands and escaped. 

When Potiphar returned, his wife accused 
Joseph of having come into the house with evil 
intentions, and when she had tried to prevent 
him he had run out, leaving his coat in her hands. 

Potiphar was a quick-tempered man. His 
wife could do what she pleased with him. When 
he heard her story, he flew into a rage and or- 
dered Joseph thrown into prison. 

Now, the prison in which Joseph was confined 
was one where the king's prisoners were kept, 
men who had in some way done wrong to the 
king or offended him. 

The keeper of the prison, attracted by 
Joseph's intelligence, put him in charge of a 
large part of the work. 

As Joseph was going the rounds one morning, 
he observed two prisoners with whom he was 
friendly looking unusually sad. One had been 
the king's chief baker and the other his chief 
butler. 

"Why do you look so sad to-day?" asked 
Joseph. 



44 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

"I have had a dream/ ' replied the butler, 
"and it worries me." 

"I have had a dream, too," added the baker, 
"and there is no one to interpret it," 

"Interpretations belong to God," said Joseph. 
"But pray tell me your dream." 

"I saw a vine before me in my dream," began 
the chief butler. "There were three branches on 
the vine, and it looked as though it were budding 
and the blossoms were bursting forth. The clus- 
ters filled out and produced ripe grapes. Then 
suddenly I had Pharaoh's cup in my hand and I 
took the grapes and pressed them into Paraoh's 
cup and placed the cup into Pharaoh's hand." 

Joseph said quickly : 

"This is the interpretation of it. The three 
branches are three days. Within three days 
shall Pharaoh lift up your head and restore you 
to your place. You shall hand Pharaoh's cup to 
him after the former manner when you were his 
butler." 

The baker was eager also to tell his dream. 

"I dreamed there were three white baskets on 
my head. In the uppermost basket there were 
all kinds of pastry for Pharaoh, and the birds 
ate them out of the basket upon my head." 

Joseph looked sad. 

"This is the interpretation of your dream," he 
said. "The three baskets are three days. In 



JOSEPH 45 

three days shall Pharaoh hang you on a tree, and 
the birds shall eat the flesh from your body." 

It turned out as Joseph had predicted. Three 
days later the butler and the baker were taken 
out of the prison. The butler was restored to his 
former position, and the baker was hanged. 

But the butler forgot Joseph, and two years 
passed. 

One morning, the king of Egypt appeared 
with a care-worn face before his courtiers. He 
had had two perplexing dreams, and he ordered 
the wise men of Egypt to be summoned that they 
might interpret them. 

The wise men came and when they heard 
Pharaoh's dreams they were puzzled. But as 
they had their reputations to keep up, they made 
some wild guesses, which did not satisfy the king. 
He was so worried that he became ill. 

It was then that memory awoke in the chief 
butler. He told how Joseph had interpreted his 
dream. 

Pharaoh immediately sent for Joseph. They 
brought him quickly out of the prison. He had 
grown haggard from his long confinement, but 
they shaved him and gave him new clothes to 
put on, and they brought him before the king. 

' ' This was my dream, ' ' said Pharaoh. ' ' I was 
standing on the bank of the Nile, when suddenly 
there came out of the river seven cows, fat and 



46 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

well-looking, and they fed in a meadow border- 
ing the stream. And then seven other cows came 
up, poor, lean, and ill-looking such as I never 
saw in all the land of Egypt for badness. The 
seven lean cows ate up the seven fat ones, but 
after they had swallowed them one could not 
have known it. They were as ill-looking as at 
the beginning. So I awoke. Then I fell asleep, 
and dreamed again. I saw in my dream seven 
ears of wheat come up on one stalk, full and 
good. Right after them sprang up seven other 
ears, whithered, thin, and blasted by the east 
wind. And the thin ears devoured the seven 
good ears." 

The king paused, looking earnestly at Joseph. 

"I have told this to all my wise men," he con- 
tinued, "but there was none that could explain it 
to me." 

Joseph replied : 

"Both dreams are one. The seven good cows 
are seven years, and the seven good ears are 
seven years — years of plenty. The seven thin 
and ill-looking cows that came up after them are 
seven years, and the seven empty ears blasted by 
the east wind are seven years — years of famine. 
God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do. 
Seven years are coming of great plenty through- 
out Egypt. And after them shall arise seven 
years of great famine, and so dire will be the 



JOSEPH 47 

famine that the years of plenty shall be forgot- 
ten. The dream was doubled to the king because 
God has determined upon this thing, and will 
shortly bring it to pass. ' ' 

Pharaoh listened as if fascinated. 

"Now let Pharaoh seek out a man who is 
capable and wise, and set him over the country 
and let him gather the food of the good years and 
store it in cities so that the land may not perish 
when the years of famine come." 

It all seemed wise and good in the eyes of 
Pharaoh and his counsellors. They did not need 
to deliberate long. 

1 ' Could we find a better man to take charge of 
the work than this man himself, in whom the 
spirit of God is?" asked Pharaoh. 

To Joseph he said: 

" Since God has shown you all this, there is 
none so wise as you ; you shall be over my land, 
and all shall be ruled by you. Only on the throne 
will I be greater than you." 

He took off his ring and put it on Joseph's 
hand. He had him arrayed in vestures of fine 
linen and put a golden chain about his neck. He 
made him ride in the second royal chariot, and 
slaves ran ahead crying, "Bow the knee!" He 
made him ruler over all the land of Egypt. 

During the seven years of plenty that came, 
Joseph went throughout the land of Egypt see- 



48 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

ing that the surplus food was gathered into the 
great store-houses. There was so much that they 
left off estimating the amount. 

Then began the seven years of scarcity. The 
dearth extended to all lands. In Egypt, how- 
ever, Joseph opened up his storehouses and the 
people had bread. And people from all countries 
came to Egypt to buy wheat. 

Ill 

The famine that was in Egypt spread also to 
Canaan. But Jacob heard that there was food 
to be bought in Egypt. 

"Why do you sit and look at one another ?" he 
said to his downcast sons. "I have heard that 
there is grain in Egypt, Go down and buy some, 
or we die!" 

Joseph's brothers did as their father said, and 
went down to Egypt to buy grain. Benjamin, 
the youngest of the twelve, remained at home, 
for* Jacob refused to let him go, fearing some 
harm might befall him. 

Joseph, as governor of the land, having charge 
of the sale of food, the ten brothers came to the 
hall where he transacted his business, bowed low 
before him, and waited for the governor to 
speak. 

Joseph recognized his brothers, but made him- 
self strange, and spoke roughly to them. 



JOSEPH 40 

" Whence come you*?" he asked. 

"From the land of Canaan, to buy food-," they 
replied. 

They did not know him. 

Joseph remembered the dreams he had dreamt 
of himself and them. 

"You are spies, come to see the weakness of 
the country," he said sternly. 

"It is not so," replied Reuben. "We are 
twelve brothers, sons of one man in the land of 
Canaan. The youngest is at home with our 
father, and one is gone." 

"I said you are spies," repeated Joseph. 
"And now you shall prove whether you are hon- 
est men ! By the life of Pharaoh ! You shall 
not go away unless your youngest brother come 
here! Send one of your number and let him 
fetch your brother, and you shall be kept in 
prison until it be proved whether there is any 
truth in you!" 

He ordered them placed under guard, and so 
they were kept for three days ; on the third day 
he went to them and said : 

"Do as I say and live ! If you are honest men, 
let one of you remain as hostage and the rest take 
provisions home to your families. But bring 
your youngest brother to me! So shall your 
words be verified and you shall not die !" 

They consulted in their own language in 



50 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

Joseph's presence, not knowing that he under- 
stood them. 

"This is a punishment on us for our guilt 
towards our brother," they said to one another. 
"We saw the anguish of his soul as he besought 
us not to sell him, but we would not listen ! That 
is why this trouble has come upon us!" 

"Did I not tell you not to commit that sin 
against the child?" demanded Reuben. "You 
would not hear me! Now you see he is being 
avenged." 

Joseph heard them, and had to turn away to 
hide his tears, for his anger had passed away 
years ago. 

Simeon was selected as the hostage, and 
Joseph had him bound before their eyes. 

Then they loaded their asses with sacks of 
grain, paid for them, and set out for home. They 
stayed at an inn that night, and as one of them 
opened his sack to get out provender for his 
animal he saw the bundle of money that he had 
paid for his grain in the sack's mouth. He told 
it to his brothers. They all opened their sacks, 
and their hearts sank, for every man's money 
was in the mouth of his sack ! 

"What is this God has done to us?" they said 
to one another. 

When they arrived home, they told their 
father, Jacob, everything that had happened to 



JOSEPH 51 

them, how the lord of the land had spoken 
roughly to them, accused them of being spies, 
and commanded them to fetch Benjamin when 
they returned ; and how they had left Simeon as 
a hostage, and of the money found in their sacks. 

Jacob refused to let Benjamin go. 

"Joseph is gone, and Simeon is gone," he com- 
plained. "Now you wish to take Joseph's 
brother ! If any mischief befell him, you would 
bring my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave." 

Reuben promised to be personally responsible 
for the boy. But Jacob was determined not to 
let him go. 

However, when all the food that had been 
brought from Egypt had been eaten, Jacob asked 
his sons to go again and buy food. 

"But the lord of the land ordered us not to 
look into his face unless we brought our 
brother," said Judah. "If you will not send 
him, we will not return to Egypt!" 

"Why were you so cruel towards me and so 
foolish as to tell the man you had a brother?" 
demanded the old man. 

"How were we to know that he would order 
us to bring him?" replied the brothers. 

"Send the lad with me," begged Judah, "and 
we shall get food to save ourselves from starva- 
tion. I will be surety for him. If I do not 
bring him back, let me bear the blame forever! 



52 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

We might have been there and back by this time 
if we had not lingered !" 

The old man had to choose — starvation, or 
letting Benjamin, the comfort of his old age, go. 
He was compelled to yield. 

"Take him, if you must," he said, at last, "and 
carry the man a little present, some balm, honey, 
spices and myrrh, nuts and almonds ! And take 
the money again that was brought back in your 
sacks! It may have been an oversight. And 
may God Almighty make the man merciful, that 
he may send away your other brother and also 
Benjamin!" 

The brothers took double money, the present 
of the best fruits of the land, and went down to 
Egypt and presented themselves to Joseph. 

When Joseph saw they had returned with 
Benjamin, he commanded his steward to prepare 
a dinner, and invited all the brothers to dine with 
him. The steward did so, and conducted the 
brothers to Joseph's house. 

This frightened them. 

"It is on account of the money we found in our 
sacks," they said to one another. "He wishes to 
trump up a charge against us and take us for 
slaves!" 

They opened a conversation with the steward 
at the door of Joseph's house. 

"Sir," said Judah, "we came down once be- 



JOSEPH 53 

fore to buy food, and as we were returning home 
we stopped at an inn and opened our sacks, and 
there was our money in the mouth of every sack. 
We have brought it back again. We do not 
know who put the money in our sacks. " 

1 ' Have no fear, ' ' replied the steward. ' ' Your 
God, and the God of your father gave you your 
treasure in your sacks. I received your money.' ' 

Then he brought Simeon, whom they had left 
in prison, out to them. 

When Joseph came home they gave him the 
present they had brought, and bowed before 
him to the earth. 

He asked after their welfare. 

"Is your father well?" he asked, "the old man 
of whom you spoke — is he alive?" 

They answered that he was in good health, and 
they bowed low again. 

Then he noticed his brother Benjamin. 

"Is this your younger brother, of whom you 
spoke to me?" he asked. "God be gracious unto 
you, my son!" 

His heart yearned towards his brother, but he 
hurriedly left the room, for he could not restrain 
his tears. And he wept in his chamber alone. 

Then he washed his face, came out, and or- 
dered the dinner to proceed. He had the 
brothers seated at the table in the order of their 
age — the eldest, Reuben, on his right, and 



54 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

Simeon at his left. Then, alternately, on the 
right and the left sat Levi, Judah, Issachar, Dan, 
Napthali, Gad, Asher, Zebulon and Benjamin. 
The men marveled to themselves at his wisdom, 
for no one had told him their ages. 

Joseph sent especially large portions of dain- 
ties down to Benjamin. The brothers ate, drank, 
and were merry with the lord of Egypt. 

At break of day the men set out upon their 
homeward journey. They had not gone far when 
Joseph's steward, with a squad of soldiers, came 
riding after them. 

"Is this how you return evil for good?" he 
demanded while they stood in astonishment be- 
side their laden asses. "You have taken my 
lord's silver cup!" 

"Why do you say that?" replied Reuben. 
"We brought back the money from Canaan that 
we found in our sacks. Would we then steal 
silver or gold out of your lord's house?" 

The soldiers had dismounted and gathered 
around. 

"Search us!" continued Reuben. "And if 
you find the cup with any of us, let him die, and 
the rest will be your lord's slaves !" 

"Be it as you say!" said the steward. 

Every man quickly lifted his sack to the 
ground and opened it. The steward began with 
the eldest, and ended with the youngest, and 



JOSEPH 55 

when he opened Ben j amin's sack, there was the 
silver cup ! 

The brothers rent their clothes, as if someone 
had died, and they loaded every man his ass and 
returned to the city. 

Joseph was yet in his house when they entered, 
and they fell before him on the ground. 

"What is this you have done?" he demanded. 
" Think you that anything is hidden from me?" 

Judah replied: 

"What shall we say, my lord? How shall we 
clear ourselves? God has found out our dis- 
honesty. We are all your bondmen, we and he 
also upon whom the cup was found!" 

"God forbid!" said Joseph. "Only he in 
whose hand the cup was found shall be my ser- 
vant ! As for the rest of you, return in peace to 
your father!" 

Judah stepped forward and said : 

"My lord! You asked us whether we had a 
father or a brother, and we told you we had a 
father and there was a little child, the only one 
of his mother, for his brother was dead, and his 
father loved him much. You compelled us to 
bring the boy, that you might see him. His 
father was very loth to let him go, and now if we 
return without him our father will surely die of 
grief. I became surety for the lad to my father. 
I said if I did not bring him back I would bear 



56 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

the blame. Now, I beg of you, let me stay instead 
of the lad and be a bondman to my lord, and let 
the lad return with his brothers ! How could I 
come back to my father and the lad not with 
me?" 

Joseph could not control himself any longer. 

"Let all but these men depart!" he cried. 

He was left alone with his brothers. He no 
longer tried to restrain his tears. He wept 
aloud. 

"I am Joseph!" he said. "Is my father still 
living?" 

His brothers remained silent ; they were per- 
plexed. 

"Come closer!" he went on. 

They approached, slowly. 

"I am Joseph," he repeated, "your brother 
whom you sold into Egypt. But be not grieved 
nor angry with yourselves that you sold me here, 
for God sent me before you to save life. It was 
not you that sent me, but God, and He has made 
me a deliverer to Pharaoh and a ruler through- 
out the land of Egypt. And now, hurry back to 
my father and say to him : ' Thus says your son, 
Joseph: "God has made me lord of all Egypt; 
come down to me and tarry not." ' " 

Their faces still showed their doubt. 

"Why, your eyes and my brother Benjamin's 
eyes see me ! " he pleaded. ' ' You see that it is my 



JOSEPH 57 

mouth that speaks to you! You shall tell my 
father of all my glory in Egypt and of all that 
you have seen. You shall hasten and bring him 
down here!" 

Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin's neck 
and wept; and Benjamin wept. And after that 
he kissed all his brothers. And then his brothers 
talked with him and assured themselves that it 
was really Joseph, their brother. 

When Pharaoh heard of the strange reunion 
of the brothers, he said to Joseph : 

"Tell your brothers to go back to Canaan and 
come with their father and their households to 
me. They shall eat of the fat of the land. For 
the good of all the land of Egypt is yours!" 

The children of Israel returned to Canaan 
with wagons that Joseph had given them, much 
provisions, and a great present for their father. 

When Jacob heard them tell how Joseph was 
alive and was governor over all the land of 
Egypt, his heart stood still. He did not believe 
them. Then they told him everything that 
Joseph had said, and when he saw the wagons 
which Joseph had sent to bear him and his pos- 
sessions, his spirit revived. 

"It is enough," he said. "Joseph, my son, is 
yet alive. I will go and see him before I die." 

He set out with all his children and belongings, 
and when he approached the city, Joseph came 



58 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

forth in his chariot to meet him. They embraced, 
and amid his tears Jacob said : 

"Now let me die, for I have seen your face 
again, and you live ■!" 

Joseph conducted his father and his brothers 
before the king and Pharaoh received them 
kindly and gave them a portion of Egypt, 
Goshen, in which they lived happily the re- 
mainder of their days. 




MOSES 

|OSES was thinking of the poor bonds- 
men in Egj^pt, of his brother, his sister, 
his friends, as he slowly followed the 
forest path looking for signs of a 
strayed lamb. Although his beard was streaked 
with gray his tall massive frame was still supple 
and his step elastic. The path led him around to 
a lonely mountain pasture encircled by a wall of 
trees. 

Lifting up his eyes he saw to his surprise a 
fire. A bramble bush seemed to be burning. 
Who could have kindled a blaze in this remote 
spot f The bush burned with a clear, smokeless 
flame, and as he stood looking, something odd 
about the picture struck him. The flames leaped 
vigorously and enveloped the bush completely, 
but every leaf and twig was as if untouched by 
heat; the stem and branches did not glow and 
nowhere was there a sign of charring. 

"This is strange/ ' thought Moses. "I will go 
and look closer. " 

As he approached marvelling, he heard a voice 
that seemed to come from the midst of the blaze 
saying : 

59 



60 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

"Come no nearer, but take off thy shoes, for 
the ground upon which thou standest is holy I" 

Moses hid his face and obeyed. 

"I am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, " 
continued the voice. "I have seen the affliction 
of my people in Egypt. I have heard their cry 
and I have come down to bring them out of that 
land to a land flowing with milk and honey. 
Come, now, and I will send thee to Pharaoh, and 
thou shalt bid him let the children of Israel go !" 

But Moses was alarmed by the greatness of the 
task proposed to him. 

"O, Lord," he said, "I am not eloquent and 
never have been. I am slow of speech!" 

"Who hath made man's mouth?" replied the 
voice. "Who maketh the dumb or deaf, the see- 
ing or the blind ? Is it not I % Go, therefore, and 
I will be with thy mouth and teach thee what 
thou shalt say." 

Still Moses hesitated. 

"O, Lord," he begged, "send, I pray you, some 
one abler than I." 

The voice spoke more sternly : 

i ' Thy brother Aaron shall speak for thee ! He, 
I know, can speak well. He will meet thee when 
thou wilt arrive in Egypt. Go, for all those that 
sought thy life are dead!" 

When he returned home in the evening, Moses 
told the old Midianite chief, his father-in-law, 



MOSES 61 

that lie had a great desire to visit Egypt and see 
his friends once more. 

"Go in peace !" said Reuel; and a few days 
later Moses with his wife and two sons, mounted 
upon steady, wiry little donkeys, started from 
Midian for Egypt. 

It was a new king, but no less cruel than the 
old, that sat upon the throne of Egypt when 
Moses returned. He sat surrounded by cour- 
tiers, soldiers and slaves, when two stalwart 
gray-bearded men entered the audience room. 
They were Moses and his brother Aaron. Look- 
ing the king fearlessly in the face Aaron spoke : 

"The God of Israel bids you let his people go 
that they may hold a feast for him in the wilder- 
ness !" 

"Who is God," demanded Pharaoh, "that I 
should obey him? I do not know God, neither 
will I let the Israelites go !" 

"The God of the Hebrews has spoken to us," 
said Aaron again. "Let us go, we beg you, three 
days' journey into the desert that we may wor- 
ship Him." 

"Go about your business!" retorted the king 
angrily. "Why do you hinder the people, you 
two, in their work by putting these fantastic 
ideas into their heads ! Enough ! ' ' 

The interview was closed. 

Turning to his taskmasters, the king said : 



62 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

"Give them more work! Let them find their 
own straw for their bricks, and they will have 
no time to listen to such idle words !" 

The Israelites were given good reason to 
regret bitterly having listened to Moses. 

" You have put a sword into Pharaoh's hand," 
they reproached him when they met him on the 
road. 

And Moses cried to God : 

"Lord, why hast Thou treated this people so 
ill? Why hast Thou sent me? Since I have 
spoken in Thy name Pharaoh has done nothing 
but evil to thy people, and Thou hast not de- 
livered them at all!" 

Then Moses heard the same Voice that he had 
heard in the burning bush : 

"Now shalt thou see what I shall do to Pha- 
raoh, for with violence shall he drive them out of 
his land. I have heard the groaning of the chil- 
dren of Israel. Say to them, I am God and I 
will bring you out from under the yoke of the 
Egyptians. With my strong arm will I save you. 
I will take you to me for a people, and I will 
bring you into the land which I swore to give to 
Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I am God!" 

Moses repeated these words to the Israelites, 
but no one listened. 

They wished only to be let alone in their mis- 
ery. 



MOSES 63 

Early the next morning Moses went to the 
place on the Nile where he knew the king took 
his morning bath. Before long the king, with a 
few attendants, approached. Moses advanced 
and the king recognized the Hebrew who had 
brought him a message from God. Moses 
cried : 

"The God of the Hebrews has sent me to you 
saying: 'Let my people go that they may serve 
me in the desert.' Hitherto you have not lis- 
tened, but by this sign shall you know it is God 
who speaks. Behold, I will smite with this rod 
upon the water in the river and it shall be turned 
to blood. " 

He struck the water as he finished speaking, 
and in the twinkling of an eye the Nile was a 
crimson river of blood. Pharaoh looked in 
horror and fled with his attendants. 

The whole land of Egypt was bathed in blood. 
Every brook and rivulet was red like the Nile. 
The fish died and a foul odor hung over the banks 
of the river. The people dug wells to get drink- 
ing water. They were sick with fear and disgust. 
Seven days this terrible warning lasted. On the 
eighth, the river became itself again. And 
Pharaoh, having recovered from his fright, re- 
fused to let the Israelites go. 

Again Moses confronted the king in the morn- 
ing. Something in the prophet's manner com- 



64 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

pelled attention, much as Pharaoh would have 
liked to order him away. Moses spoke : 

"God says: 'Let my people go!' If you 
refuse, I will plague all your land with frogs! 
The river shall send them up by the millions. f ' 

Pharaoh turned his head away and walked 
on. 

Immediately the frogs began to hop up. In a 
short time they had spread over the whole land. 
They were in the houses, in the beds, in the 
dishes. They hopped into the ovens, into the 
kneading troughs. Wherever the people went 
by day or by night, whether they ate or slept, 
whether they sat or walked, the frogs hopped 
over them, under their feet, into their hands and 
almost into their mouths. 

Pharaoh sent for Moses. 

"Take away these frogs from me and my 
country/ ' he begged, "and I will let your people 
go!" 

"When?" 

"To-morrow!" replied the king humbly. 

"It shall be as you say," said Moses, "that you 
may know there is none like God." 

The next day the frogs died out of the houses, 
out of the villages and out of the fields. The 
Egyptians gathered them up in great heaps and 
the stench was overwhelming. But when the 
king saw that the plague was past, his tyrannical 



MOSES 65 

spirit returned and he refused to do as he had 
promised. 

Again the Voice spoke to Moses : 

"Bid Aaron strike the sand on the river beach 
with his staff !" 

No sooner had Aaron done so than the sand 
became alive. Every shining grain acquired a 
mouth, legs, nippers. It became a crawling 
louse! The lice spread throughout Egypt in 
search of their prey and the scratching by man 
and beast all over the country was wild and 
furious. 

The king, however, refused to believe that this 
was a punishment from God. He summoned his 
scientists, his magicians, to match their skill 
against the Hebrew wizard. 

The magicians shook their heads sorrowfully. 

"We cannot equal it!" they said. "In this, 
my lord, you see the finger of God." 

But Pharaoh was not convinced. He was a 
stubborn man. 

Close upon the lice followed swarms of flies. 
Clouds of them filled the air. It was impossible 
to see, to breathe. The sound of their buzzing 
was like the roar of the wind through the tree- 
tops. 

Pharaoh sent for Moses. 

1 ' Go worship your God, ' ' he said. ' ' Only take 
away this pest!" 



66 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

"I will do so," replied Moses, "but let not the 
king deal deceitfully again." 

The flies, as if obeying a command, began to 
move eastward towards the sea. In a day they 
were gone. Not one was left. 

But as soon as Pharaoh felt that life was pos- 
sible again he laughed and refused to let the 
Israelites go. 

And now a heavier blow fell. The cattle began 
to fall right and left. Only those belonging to 
the Israelites remained alive. Pharaoh saw this, 
but he only cursed the harder. 

Again Moses appeared before the king in the 
morning at the river's edge. The king saw him 
throw a handful of ashes into the air, which 
spread as a fine dust. This grew before the 
king's eyes finer and finer, and spread wider and 
wider, until it hung like a faint mist over every- 
thing. And every Egyptian, from the king 
down, who was touched by an atom of that dust 
became covered with boils. 

The king suffered, and mightily did he groan. 
He could not sit ; he could not turn his head ; he 
could not move his arms. But he gritted his 
teeth and would not yield. 

He was getting used now to the appearance of 
the stalwart, gray-bearded Hebrew on the river 
bank. He knew when he saw the prophet that 
more trouble was brewing. 



MOSES 67 

" To-morrow there will be rain and hail in 
Egypt/' announced the Hebrew solemnly. 
"Every creature, man or beast, caught in the 
open will be killed. See to it!" 

Pharaoh replied scoffingly : 

"We shall see!" 

There were many who believed the warning 
and kept themselves and their cattle under 
shelter. Pharaoh himself also thought it more 
prudent to stay at home. But there were un- 
believers who sacrificed their animals, and others 
who paid with their lives for their f oolhardiness. 

No one since Noah's time had seen such tor- 
rents of rain, and never had any one heard of 
such hail-stones, the size of pigeon's eggs, with 
which Egypt was bombarded. Thunder crashed 
incessantly and the lightning not only rent the 
sky but ran along the ground. Every tree and 
shrub and herb was broken and beaten down. 
Only the wheat and the rye, which were not yet 
grown up, escaped unharmed. Every living 
thing caught outdoors was killed. But in 
Goshen, the district where the Israelites lived, 
there was no rain and no hail. The sky was 
clear. 

This time Pharaoh was terror-stricken and 
summoned Moses in haste. He promised every- 
thing if only the prophet would keep the heavens 
from falling in. Yet when the sky had cleared, 



68 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

this foolish king regretted his fright and 
resumed his haughty airs. 

Moses was soon back and even the tyrannical 
Pharaoh trembled before his wrath. 

"Thus says the God of the Hebrews/ ' thun- 
dered Moses. "How long will you refuse to 
humble yourself before me % Let my people go ! 
For if not, I will bring to-morrow the locusts 
upon your land!" 

He spoke and was gone. 

Pharaoh's courtiers, who were not so blinded 
by vanity as the king, were alarmed. 

"How long shall this man afflict us?" they 

asked. "Let the Hebrews go and serve their 

God! Do you not know that Egypt is ruined?" 

The king looked foolish and some ran out and 

brought the prophet back. 

"Who shall go with you on this wild jour- 
ney?" demanded the king. 

"We will go with our young and with our old, 
with our sons and with our daughters, with our 
flocks and with our herds," replied Moses 
sternly. 

"May your God be with you as I will let you 
and your little ones go!" exclaimed the king 
angrily. "You men may go, that is what j^ou 
asked for in the first place, but no one else !" 

But already the locusts, borne upon the east 
wind, were darkening the sky, and spreading 



MOSES 69 

over the whole land of Egypt. Every bit of 
vegetation that had been spared by the hail, the 
wheat and the rye that had escaped because still 
underground, was consumed by the grasshop- 
pers. There remained not a green leaf in Egypt. 

For the last time Pharaoh begged Moses to 
come to him ; but when he saw the stern old man, 
rage overcame him. 

"Away with you!" he shouted. "And see my 
face no more, for on the day that you do, you 
die!" 

To which Moses gravely replied : 

"You have spoken well. I shall see your face 
no more ! ' ' 

It was no ordinary night that settled down 
upon Egypt. Impenetrably thick, the darkness 
could almost be felt. And no day came when the 
period of night had passed, but the terrifying 
black pall continued to hang over the land. 
Thrice twenty- four hours no sun or moon or star 
was visible. 

Word went round among the Israelites that the 
blood of a slaughtered lamb was to be smeared 
upon the door-post of every Hebrew dwelling. 
And when this had been done, an Angel of God 
passed in the darkness from door to door. Where 
he saw the blood sign he did not enter, but into 
everjr other house, into the houses of the Egyp- 
tians he went upon his fatal errand. And when 



70 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

the people awoke on what should have been the 
next morning — but darkness still ruled — there 
arose a sound of weeping and wailing; for in 
every Egyptian house, from the king's palace to 
the shepherd's hut, the first-born lay dead. 

And now, at last, an urgent message was 
brought to Moses : 

" Go ! Leave us ! Take your flocks and your 
herds and begone I" 

The Egyptians came with gifts to the Israel- 
ites. 

"Take these and go!" they implored. "*We 
are all dead men if you stay!" 

No time was to be lost. Pharaoh might still 
change his mind. Hurriedly gathering their 
possessions, the Israelites marched out in the 
night driving their flocks before them. They 
knew not which way to turn, but suddenly, hang- 
ing apparently between heaven and earth they 
saw a shaft of intense white light. It hung still 
for a while but seemed to be vibrating with an 
inner motion. Then it began to move and the 
fleeing Hebrews knew that there was their guide. 
Whispering and stumbling anxiously, yet with a 
joy beyond expression, they followed the pillar 
of light. When at last the sun rose, the place of 
the pillar of light was taken by a cloud, and thus 
were they led across the desert to the edge of the 
Red sea. 



MOSES 71 

The fugitives were preparing to camp for the 
night, when there appeared on the western 
horizon against the glow of the setting sun a 
troop of horsemen. The gathering darkness 
shut them from view, but the Israelites did not 
need to be told that they had seen the riders of 
Pharaoh in pursuit of them. 

A great clamor broke out in the camp. 
Women wept, children cried, animals bleated 
and the men surrounded Moses. 

"Were there no graves in Egypt/' they com- 
plained, "that you have brought us out here to 
die ? We begged you to let us alone ! Would it 
not have been better to serve the Egyptians than 
to die in the desert?'' 

The gray-bearded leader looked at them 
sternly. 

"Fear not !" he said. "Stand still and see the 
salvation of God ! The Egyptians whom you 
have seen to-day you shall see no more forever !" 

The cloud of darkness stationed itself between 
the Egyptians and the Israelites so that the pur- 
suers could see nothing ahead. The Israelites 
heard the clatter of their armor, the rattle of 
their war-chariots, the neighing of the horses 
and the shouts of the men. But the pursuit Had 
halted. 

The voice of God now spoke to Moses on the 
edge of the sea. 



72 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

"Bid the children of Israel go forward! But 
stretch out thy rod over the sea and divide it, and 
the children of Israel shall go on dry ground 
through the midst of the sea!" 

No sooner had Moses stretched out his staff 
over the sea than a strong wind began to blow 
from the east. 

A murmur arose from the Israelites crowded 
on the beach. 

"The pillar of light is moving out over the 
water!" 

"The sea is dry!" flew from mouth to mouth. 

A tremor seemed to go through the crowd, and 
then they began to move slowly down the sloping 
shore upon the dry bottom of the sea. On the 
right and left of them stood the heaped up waters 
gleaming and quivering like phosphorescent 
jelly. But no Israelite wet his foot that night. 

Towards morning Pharaoh and his Egyptians 
became aware of what was going on. 

"After them!" shouted the captains, and the 
horses plunged down into the bed of the sea. Out 
in the middle they began having trouble with 
their chariots, which ran heavily. Some of the 
wheels came off. The hoarse cries of the drivers 
changed. There was fear in their voices. 

"Back!" they yelled. "God is fighting for 
them against us!" 

Moses again stretched his rod out over the sea. 



MOSES 73 

The wind changed. The walls of water began to 
loosen up, to slip and slide and dissolve. The 
Egyptians had turned and were frantically try- 
ing to reach land, but the water deepened around 
them. For a few minutes horses, chariots and 
men were seen floundering in the tossing waves, 
and then were seen no more. Of all the host of 
Pharaoh not one returned. 

And the children of Israel saw the great work 
God had done for them. They feared him and 
believed in Moses, his servant; and they sang 
and danced for joy. 




JOSHUA 

|FTER the death of Moses, God spoke to 
Joshua : 

" Moses my servant is dead; now 
therefore arise, go over this Jordan 
river. Every place that the sole of thy foot shall 
tread upon that have I given unto thee, as I said 
to Moses. There shall not any man be able to 
stand before thee all the days of thy life; as I 
was with Moses, so will I be with thee. I will not 
fail thee nor forsake thee. Only be thou strong 
and very courageous, that thou mayest act ac- 
cording to all the law which Moses my servant 
commanded thee: turn not from it to the right 
hand or to the left. Be strong and of a good 
courage ; be not afraid for the Lord thy God is 
with thee whithersoever thou goest." 

The next day Joshua gave orders that all the 
Israelites be prepared within three days to cross 
the Jordan into the enemy's country. But first 
he sent two bold young men to make their way 
into the city of Jericho, the first stronghold of 
the Canaanites, and report on the strength of its 
defenses, for it was a walled town. 

The spies came to a public house on the wall 
of the city, kept by a woman named Rahab. 

74 



JOSHUA 75 

But someone had seen them enter, and suspect- 
ing they were not what they seemed, ran and 
reported to the king of Jericho. At once, the 
king dispatched a squad of spearmen to fetch the 
strangers. 

It was late in the night when the captain 
knocked on Rahab's door with the butt of his 
javelin. Rahab put her head through an upper 
window and asked what was wanted so late. 

"I come from the king," replied the captain. 
"Let me in." 

She saw the dark forms of the soldiers below 
and the heads of their spears against the sky. 

"In a minute!" she said, and withdrew. 

It was more than ten minutes before the im- 
patient captain heard the bolt slide in the door. 

"Your minutes are long," he growled. 

"I had to put something on, captain," she re- 
plied good-naturedly. "What business has the 
king with me?" 

She was a woman of about thirty, dark and 
handsome, with a resolute look in her eyes. 

"Two strangers came in to you this evening. 
We want them," said the captain. 

6 ' Two strangers ! You mean the men from the 
west ? They went before the gates were closed. 
You will have to hurry if you wish to catch 
them ! ' ? 

"I suspect you know more about this than you 



76 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

tell, Rahab," said the leader. "We will look for 
ourselves. In, men, and search the house ! ' ? 

They ransacked the place from cellar to roof 
without finding a trace of those they sought. 
When they came out upon the flat roof, they 
found it covered with stalks of flax, spread 
smoothly in regular order to dry in the sun. A 
low parapet surrounded the roof. The stars 
shone brilliantly in the sky. Rahab stood by the 
side of the captain while the soldiers peered into 
the corners and rustled the flax with their spear- 
points. 

"The birds have flown, " said one of them, 
returning. 

"Which way did you say they went?" asked 
the captain, glowering upon Rahab. 

" Northward, " she replied, without a change 
of expression. 

They clattered down the stairs, and Rahab let 
them out. 

"If you had not wasted all this time in the 
house you might have caught them," she said, 
closing the door and bolting it again. 

Silently and quickly she made her way back to 
the roof. Peering cautiously over the parapet, 
she saw the soldiers emerge upon the plain out- 
side the city wall, saw them close the great gate 
and take the trail not northward but westward, 
toward the fords of the Jordan. She waited a 



JOSHUA 77 

quarter of an hour longer, and then going to the 
middle of the roof, stirred the flax, saying in a 
low voice : 

' ' Arise ! They are gone ! ' ' 

The flax heaved and the form of a man slowly 
became erect. A moment later the same thing 
happened in another part of the roof. 

"How can we repay you for saving our lives f " 
asked the first man. 

"I knew you were Israelites the moment I saw 
you," replied Rahab soberly. "I know that God 
has given you this land, for the fear of you is 
upon all its inhabitants. We have heard how 
God dried up the water of the Red Sea for you 
when you came out of Egypt, and what you did 
to the two kings of the Amorites, Sihon and Og, 
on the other side of Jordan. Your God is God 
in heaven above and in earth beneath. Now 
since I have shown you this kindness, show also 
kindness to me and my father's house. Swear to 
me that you will save alive my father, my 
mother, my brothers and sisters, and spare all 
that they have ! ' ' 

"By our lives, we swear !" they said. "If you 
say nothing about this business of ours, when 
God has given us the land we shall deal truly and 
kindly with you and yours." 

She took them down to the first floor of her 
house, which was level with the top of the city 



78 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

wall, and taking a rope from a hook, she fastened 
one end of it in the room and let them out 
through the window, outside the wall. 

"Get you to the mountains southward!'' she 
said to them, "lest the pursuers meet you. Hide 
there three days, and when they have returned, 
you may go your way." 

"Here, catch this!" whispered the leader of 
the spies. It was a line of scarlet thread that he 
threw up into the window. "Bind that scarlet 
thread in the window from which you have let us 
down and bring your father and mother and 
brothers and sisters into the house with you. 
And when we return, whosoever shall go out of 
the doors of your house into the street his blood 
shall be on his own head, but whosoever shall be 
with you in the house his blood shall be upon our 
head if any hand be laid upon him. However, if 
you utter a word of our business here, we shall be 
quit of the oath that you have made us swear." 

"Be it as you say," she replied and tied the 
scarlet thread in her window. . 

Three days later the spies returned safely to 
the Israelite camp and reported to Joshua. 

Thirty-one kings and their cities had Joshua, 
captain of Israel, overcome. His was the task 
of subduing the land to the border of which 
Moses had led the Israelites, and into which, it 
was not granted the great prophet to enter. A 



JOSHUA 79 

man of tireless energy and fiery courage was 
needed to complete the work begun by Moses. 
Such a man was Joshua. It was as a scout into 
the enemy's country that he first came into 
prominence. Returning with a band that had 
been sent to explore the country beyond the Jor- 
dan, he and Caleb were the only ones whose 
nerve was not shaken by the danger and difficulty 
of the enterprise, and in the riot that ensued, he 
and Caleb stood stoutly by the prophet against 
the fear-maddened camp. In battle he was re- 
lentless, and it was told of him that when he 
smote the five kings of the Amorites — the kings 
of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmouth, Lachish and 
Eglon — he prayed in sight of his whole army — 

"Sun stand thou still upon Gibecm, 
And thou Moon in the valley of Ajalon" 

And the sun stood still and the moon stayed 
until the people had avenged themselves upon 
their enemies. And never before or after, ran 
the story, did God hearken to the voice of a man 
to stop the heavenly bodies in their courses. 

Yet this mighty warrior won his first great 
victory, not by his own prowess, but with the in- 
visible army of God. 

On the third day after the return of the spies 
from Jericho the Israelites crossed the Jordan 



80 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

and pitched their camp on the further shore. 
That evening, Joshua went outside the camp 
alone to think over the news that had been 
brought him of the strength of the walls and the 
alertness of the garrison of Jericho. It was a 
level plain where he paced deep in thought. The 
walls of Jericho could be seen towering dimly in 
the fading twilight. Suddenly Joshua became 
aware of another presence and looking up beheld 
a figure taller than himself standing with drawn 
sword in his path. He grasped the hilt of his 
own sword, crying : 

"Are you for us or our adversaries ?" 

"I am captain of the hosts of the Lord," 
replied the stranger, his wonderful eyes glowing. 
"Fear not! I shall fight for you and shall de- 
liver Jericho into your hands." 

Joshua bowed to the ground. 

"Arise!" continued the warrior of God. 
"With the blast of trumpets shall you level those 
walls. Return and do as you are commanded!" 

And the angel of God told Joshua what to do. 

Early the next day Joshua arose to carry out 
his instructions. 

The sentinels on the walls of Jericho saw in 
the gray light of morning the Israelites forming 
in what seemed to them the most absurd order. 
First came a squadron of armed men in battle 
array. After these marched seven white-robed 



JOSHUA 81 

priests, each holding a ram's-horn trumpet to 
his lips. Next came a great wooden chest, the 
ark containing the sacred relics and the stone 
tablets of the Ten Commandments, borne also 
by priests upon two rods, one on each side. 
Finally came a rear guard of armed men. 

This singular procession moved toward the 
city wall, but paused at a safe distance and then 
began marching around the city, while shrill 
blasts from the seven ram's-horn trumpets, 
blown by the seven priests, sounded on contin- 
ually. Thus was the city completely circum- 
scribed that day ; and so again the next and the 
next — six days in succession. But on the seventh 
day, the Israelite camp bestirred itself at dawn, 
and the procession began its solemn winding 
about the city before the sun had fairly mounted 
above the horizon. No sound but the scream of 
the ram's horns was audible from the invading 
host. Seven times they encircled the city that 
day, and when the last circuit was completed, 
they halted. The horns were stilled. All stood 
silent. 

"Now shout!" cried Joshua, "for God has 
given you the city." 

At that, the horns again shrilled, and a great 
shout arose from ten thousand throats, and it fell 
upon the ears of the men of Jericho like the noise 
of the roaring of mighty waters. Instantly the 



82 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

walls of Jericho began to sway and wrinkle and 
topple, pushed by unseen hands, and the thunder 
of their fall drowned the shouting of the Israel- 
ites, who, rushing forward now through smoke 
and dust into the open city, slew right and left, 
letting none escape. 

But Joshua said to the two young men who 
had spied out Jericho : 

"Go keep your oath. Bring the woman who 
protected you and all who are with her to a safe 
place.' ' 

The scarlet thread in Rahab's window had 
made of her house an isle of safety in that day 
of blood, for every soldier had been warned to 
respect the sign. There her father and mother 
and brothers and sisters had gathered and saved 
their lives. 

The young men whom she had hidden under 
the flax on the roof brought Rahab and her kins- 
men into the Israelite camp, and when the 
Israelites moved on from the desolate spot where 
Jericho had stood, these survivors of the doomed 
city went also, and they were not forgotten in the 
final parcelling of the conquered land. 




GIDEON 

IDEON, the son of Joash, of the tribe of 
Manasseh, was threshing wheat near 
the wine-press % of his father in a hol- 
low among the hills. He dared not 
use the threshing-floor on the hill-top, for the 
Midianites and the Amalekites were roaming 
over the land, and they would have spied him. 
Every year for the past seven years had the 
Midianites and the Amalekites swarmed over the 
country, destroying grain and fruit-trees, driv- 
ing off the sheep and the cattle, and compelling 
the Israelites to hide in caves among the moun- 
tains. Every year when the farmers were hop- 
ing to harvest the summer's crops, this scourge 
had descended upon the land and driven them to 
their holes in the mountains. 

The Israelites cried to God for help. 

"Your God brought you out of Egypt, out of 
bondage," said a gaunt and ragged prophet, "but 
you have not obeyed his voice." 

Now, Gideon in the hollow of the hills was 
wielding the flail, feeling safe in that hidden 
place. 

Lifting up his eyes for a moment from his 
work he saw a man sitting under an oak tree. 

83 



84 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

"God is with you, you mighty valorous man," 
said the stranger, who looked like an Israelite. 
Gideon, although astonished to see the man there, 
was not afraid. 

"If God is with us, sir," he replied, "why is all 
this befallen us ? Where are all the miracles of 
which our fathers told us ? They used to tell so 
many of the time when He brought us out of 
Egypt, but He certainly has forsaken us now." 

"You with your strength! Why don't you go 
and save Israel from the Midianites?" said the 
man. 

"How shall I save Israel?" asked Gideon. 
"We are poor and I am the weakest and poorest 
of my brethren." 

"God will be with you and you will smite the 
Midianites as one man," replied the stranger. 

There was an assurance in his voice that 
stirred Gideon strangely. He looked into the 
man's face, who returned his gaze steadily. 

Gideon felt instinctively that he was in the 
presence of an unusual person. 

"If you will oblige me," he said, "pray remain 
here until I return with some refreshment for 
you. ' ' 

"I will tarry until you come again," replied 
the stranger. 

Gideon went in and prepared the flesh of a 
kid and brought it with some cakes in a basket 



GIDEON 85 

and some broth in a pot, and set it out before the 
stranger under the oak tree. 

"Take the flesh and the cakes and lay them 
upon this rock," said Gideon 's guest, "and pour 
out the broth." 

Gideon obeyed, wondering. 

The stranger put out the end of the staff that 
he held in his hand and touched the cakes and 
the meat, and there arose up a fire out of the 
rock and consumed them. 

When Gideon looked around, the stranger was 
gone. 

A great fear fell upon Gideon. 

"I have seen an angel of God," he said to 
himself, "God has laid his commands upon 
me!" 

Still he was not sure. He might have been 
deceived. 

That night he laid a sheep's fleece upon the 
ground and prayed : 

"God! If thou wilt save Israel by my hand, 
give me this sign ! Let there be dew on the fleece 
in the morning, and let the earth beside it be 
dry!" 

He rose up early in the morning. The earth 
all around the fleece was dry, but he wrung out 
a bowlful of water from the fleece. 

Still he hesitated, and again he prayed : 

1 i O God ! Be not angry with me ! I will speak 



86 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

but this once. Let the earth now be wet, while 
the fleece is dry!" 

It was so the next morning. The fleece was 
dry and the earth all around was wet. 

Gideon knew now that the stranger under the 
oak had brought him a message from God. He 
went out and summoned the men of his own tribe 
of Manasseh, and the men of the related tribes of 
Asher, Zebulon, and Naphtali. All obeyed his 
call. At last, after seven years of oppression and 
misery they heard the trumpet of a leader whom 
they dared to follow. At last, they believed, God 
had forgiven their sins and would fight with 
them. 

Gideon, with his hastily gathered army, seized 
the heights of Mt. Gilead beside the well of 
Harod, so that they had the Midianite hordes to 
the north of them in the valley. There, as he lay 
in his tent one night, Gideon heard a voice in his 
sleep saying : 

"I am God ! The people that are with you are 
too many for me to deliver the Midianites into 
their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves and say 
"Our own hands have saved us." Proclaim to 
them, "Whoever is afraid, let him depart early 
from Mount Gilead!" 

The next morning Gideon made the proclama- 
tion, and twenty-two thousand returned home. 
Ten thousand remained. 



GIDEON 87 

The next night Gideon again heard the same 
voice : 

"There are still too many of them! Bring 
them down to the water and I will test them for 
you ! Bid them drink at the brook ! Some will 
kneel and put their mouths down to the water, 
while others will lap up the water with their 
hands. By them that lap will I save you and give 
the Midianites into your hands.' ' 

The next day Gideon did as he was bidden. 
Those that knelt to drink were separated from 
those that lapped the water with their hands. 
The number of those that lapped was three hun- 
dred. All the others were sent home, and Gideon 
with the picked three hundred remained on the 
mountain. 

At nightfall, Gideon knew that the time for 
him to strike had come, but it seemed hard to 
believe that with his handful of men he could 
defeat the hosts of the Midianites who lay in the 
valley below him like a swarm of grasshoppers. 
He could see their camels, countless, it seemed to 
him, like the sands of the sea. 

Towards midnight, when the men were all 
asleep, he called his servant, Phurah, and to- 
gether they slipped cautiously down the moun- 
tain side. The night was dark, and they crept 
slowly and carefully until they reached the out- 
posts of the enemy. The Midianite army slept 



88 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

securely. All was still except the shrilling of the 
crickets. They heard a human voice and, creep- 
ing towards the sound, they came to a tent. The 
speaker was inside and they crept closer until 
they could make out his words. 

" And then I dreamt there was a cake of barley 
bread/ ' he was saying. "And it came tumbling 
into the army of Midian and it came to a tent and 
struck the tent which it overturned completely, 
laid it flat on the ground !" 

Another voice replied: 

"That must mean the sword of Gideon, the son 
of Joash, the Israelite! God has delivered 
Midian into his hand!" 

When Gideon heard this, he knew beyond a 
doubt that the victory was his, for God had put 
the fear of him into the hearts of the Midianffces. 

He went back quickly up the mountain slope 
and awoke his brave three hundred. 

"Arise!" he cried. "For God has given the 
host of Midian into your hand." 

He divided his band into three squads. To 
each man he gave a trumpet and a pitcher, and 
in each pitcher was a lantern. Gideon placed 
himself at the head of one of the companies. 

"Every man follow my example!" he ordered. 
"When I blow the trumpet do likewise and when 
I break the pitcher and brandish the lantern, do 
the same!" 



GIDEON 89 

He sent the other two companies in opposite 
directions, so that they surrounded, as nearly as 
possible the camp of the Midianites. When they 
had reached their positions, as Gideon knew by 
a signal flash, he took his trumpet and blew a 
blast that shattered the silence, and fell upon the 
ears of the Midianites like the blast of doom. 
Instantly three hundred such blasts fell upon the 
ears of the half-awakened Midianites, and as 
they groped for their arms they saw glowing in 
the surrounding darkness what seemed like 
myriads of lights. Rushing about wildly to ward 
off the attack, they ran into one another, mistak- 
ing friends for enemies, while the Israelites 
stood in their places, blowing their trumpets, 
brandishing their torches and shouting: 

"For God and for Gideon !" 

Cutting, stabbing and slashing their own 
friends, the shrieking and terror-stricken Mid- 
ianites fled, leaving thousands of their comrades 
dead on the site where they had lately slept 
secure. 

So was the power of Midian in the land of 
Israel broken. They did not return again, and 
the land had peace for forty years. 




SAMSON 



HERE was a certain man in Zorah, of 

the family of the Danites, whose name 

was Manoah. One day, as his wife was 

in the field, an angel of God appeared 

before her and said : 

"You have had no children before now, but 
you shall give birth to a son. Beware and drink 
no wine or strong drink and eat no forbidden 
thing, for the child shall be a Nazarite, dedicated 
to God ! No razor shall touch his head ; he shall 
begin to deliver Israel from the Philistines !" 

The woman did not know he was an angel, for 
he was dressed like a man; although his face 
shone so that she could hardly bear to look at it. 
She ran home at once and told her husband : 

"A man whose face shone like an angel's, " 
she said, "came to me and said I am to give birth 
to a son. I did not ask him who he was or whence 
he came, and he did not tell me." 

Manoah believed it was a messenger from God, 
and he prayed God to send the man again, in 
order to teach them how to take care of the child 
when it should be born. 

90 



SAMSON 91 

And the angel of God came again to the woman 
when she was alone in the field. She ran quickly 
and told her husband : 

"The man who appeared to me the other day 
has come again!" 

Manoah followed his wife and found the man 
seated on a boulder. His dress was the usual one 
of a traveler, but his eyes shone so that one could 
not look at them long. 

"Are you he that spoke to this woman?" asked 
Manoah. 

"I am," replied the angel. 

"Now tell us, pray, what shall we do with the 
child when it is born?" said Manoah. 

And the angel replied : 

"Of all that I warned your wife, let her be- 
ware ! Let her not eat anything that comes from 
the vine ! Let her drink no wine or strong drink, 
nor eat any forbidden thing, and let no shears or 
razor ever touch the child's head!" 

Manoah listened until the angel had finished 
speaking. He then said, courteously : 

"Pray, let us detain you until we have pre- 
pared some food for you." 

"Though I should stay, I would not eat of 
your food," replied the stranger. "But you 
may, if you wish, offer a sacrifice to God." 

"What is your name?" asked Manoah, "that 



92 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

when your words come to pass we may do you 
honor ? ' ' 

"Why do you ask my name?" was the reply. 
"It is a secret." 

Manoah asked not again, but built a fire upon 
a rock in order to offer up a sacrifice thereon. 
As the flame arose from the rude altar toward 
heaven a wonderful thing happened before the 
eyes of Manoah and his wife. The man in the 
traveler's garb with the unbearably shining face 
leaped into the flame, rose towards the sky, and 
disappeared. 

Manoah and his wife bowed their heads to the 
ground, but the angel did not appear again. 

"I fear we shall die," said Manoah when they 
had risen, "for we have seen a god!" 

"If God wished to kill us, He would not have 
accepted the sacrifice, nor would He have told 
us all these things," replied his wife. 

In due time the child was born. They called 
him Samson. And the boy grew mightily, for 
God blessed him. 



II 



Samson went down to Timnath one day and 
saw a girl, one of the daughters of the Philis- 
tines. His hair hung to his shoulders in long 
black rings. Never had steel of shears or razor 



SAMSON 93 

touched his head. Never had wine or fermented 
drink passed his lips. He was dedicated to God, 
and the grace of God rested upon his youth- 
ful figure; the strength of God slept in his 
muscles. 

He returned home, and told his father and 
mother he wished to have the Philistine girl for 
his wife. He wished them to go and speak for 
him. 

"Are there no girls among your own people," 
demanded Manoah, "that you must go to the 
Philistines for a wife?" 

"But I like this one," insisted Samson. "So 
go get her for me." 

Manoah and his wife finally consented to go 
and see the young woman. All three started out 
together, but Samson soon ran far ahead. The 
road was bordered by fields of grain, olive 
groves, and vineyards. Samson ran lightly 
along, rejoicing in his great strength. As he 
came near the vineyards of Timnath a tremen- 
dous roar burst upon his ears, and the body of a 
young lion brushed his head. It had just missed 
him in its leap. Turning more swiftly than the 
beast, Samson seized him by the jaws and tore him 
apart, as he would have torn a lamb. He dragged 
the carcass into the vineyard and went on. He 
said nothing of his adventure to his father or 
mother. 



94 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

The young woman in Timnath pleased Manoah 
and his wife. Her father also was charmed with 
the youth, and the marriage was agreed upon. A 
few weeks later Samson and his father and 
mother returned to Timnath for the marriage 
feast. 

Samson ran ahead, as before. At the spot 
where he had killed the lion he turned aside to 
look for the body. There it lay, and a swarm of 
bees had built a hive within it and filled it with 
honey. Samson took both hands full of honey 
comb and went on, eating, and when his father 
and mother overtook him he gave them some, and 
they ate. But he did not tell them he had taken 
the honey from the carcass of a lion. 

It was the custom in those days for the bride- 
groom to make a feast for his bride's friends. 
Thirty young Philistines were invited by the 
bride's father to share in the jollification, and all 
did their part to add to the fun. Samson took 
the lead in wit and in feats of strength. At the 
height of the merry-making, he declared that he 
had a riddle to propound to the young Philis- 
tines. 

"If you guess the riddle within the seven days 
of the feast," he said, "I will give you thirty 
sets of garments and thirty blankets. If you 
fail, you shall give me thirty sets of garments 
and thirty blankets." 



SAMSON 95 

' ' Agreed ! Let us hear it ! ' ' 
He recited: 

"Out of the eater came forth food, 

And out of the strong one came forth sweetness/' 

The days passed, but with all their brain-rack- 
ing the thirty Philistines could not guess what 
the young Hebrew giant meant. 

On the seventh day, being at their wits' end, 
they besieged Samson's wife. 

' ' Get the answer to the riddle from your hus- 
band," their spokesman said fiercely, "or we will 
burn you and your father's house! Have you 
invited us here to rob us?" 

Samson's wife now began begging and weep- 
ing for him to tell her the answer to the riddle. 

"You do not love me," she wept. "You put a 
riddle to my people, and do not tell even me what 
is the answer!" 

"I have not told my father or mother, either," 
he replied sternly. 

She continued to weep and complain, and at 
last he could bear it no longer and told her. 

She at once passed the word to her country- 
men. 

On the seventh day, when they were seated at 
the evening meal, Samson asked the thirty Phil- 
istines whether they had solved his riddle. He 



96 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

noticed with surprise that their countenances 
were no longer downcast as for several days 
past. 

"We have !" they shouted merrily. " What is 
sweeter than honey, and what is stronger than a 
lion?" 

Samson saw that he had been betrayed. 

"If you had not plowed with my heifer, you 
would not have unearthed my riddle !" he re- 
torted angrily. 

That was his declaration of war. 

He left at once, made a raid into Ashkelon, 
one of the Philistine cities, knocked over thirty 
Philistines, took their garments and sent them 
up to the young men who had explained his 
riddle. Then he retired to the house of his 
father, Manoah. 

A few weeks later, in the wheat-harvest time, 
Samson's anger having cooled, he returned to 
Timnath and demanded his wife of his father-in- 
law. 

"Why, I thought you hated her and had 
deserted her," said the old Philistine, mockingly. 
"I have given her in marriage to another. But 
there's her younger sister, fairer than she. You 
might take her instead." 

Samson, furious with rage, rushed away. 

He hunted in the fields until he had caught 
three hundred foxes alive. Although swifter of 



SAMSON 97 

foot than the hare, this task occupied him three 
days. With his bare hands he caught them, and 
when he had tied them tail to tail he fixed a blaz- 
ing firebrand in each knot. The three hundred 
foxes released from his hand went circling 
among the wheat fields, the vineyards and the 
olive groves of the Philistines, each couple bear- 
ing a burning torch. And in a few minutes the 
grain, both standing and in shock, the vineyards 
and the olive groves of the Philistines of Tim- 
nath were ablaze in every direction. The entire 
harvest was destroyed. 

The men of Timnath, learning that it was the 
son-in-law of their neighbor who had played this 
costly joke upon them because the wife of the 
terrible young Hebrew had been given to another 
man, arose and set fire at night to their neigh- 
bor's house, so that both he and his daughter 
were burned to death. 

But this enraged Samson all the more, and 
now he went forth openly to seek revenge. He 
smote the Philistines hip and thigh, leaving 
hundreds dead in his path, and when his rage 
was cooled, he withdrew to a cliff called Etan, 
wherein was a cave. 

The Philistines were now aroused. They gath- 
ered a large army and advanced in battle array 
into the land of Judah. They encamped in the 
city of Lehi. 



98 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

" Why are you come up against us V asked the 
men of Judah. 

"To capture Samson/ ' replied the Philistines, 
"and to do to him as he has done to us." 

The men of Judah wished no quarrel with the 
Philistines who were stronger than they. A 
band of three thousand of the men of Judah 
therefore, marched out to Etan to parley with 
Samson. 

"You know well that the Philistines are our 
masters," they said. "Why have you brought 
this trouble upon us?" 

"As they did to me, so have I done to them," 
replied Samson. 

"We have come to bind and deliver you into 
the hands of the Philistines," they said. 

"Will you swear to me that you yourselves will 
not attack me?" asked Samson. 

They swore they would not harm him. He 
then came out and let himself be bound with two 
new cords, and they led him down from the cave. 

When they came to the city of Lehi a great 
shout went up from the Philistines encamped 
there at the sight of their captive enemy. 

But the spirit of God entered his arms, and he 
strained at the cords, which fell away like burnt 
flax. Looking around for a weapon, he saw the 
jawbone of an ass lying by the roadside. He 
grasped this and rushed, swinging it, upon the 



SAMSON 99 

Philistines. They fell around him in heaps, and 
those who could fled for their lives. 

When he found himself alone and free Samson 
threw away the jawbone, and went on his way 
singing. 




SAMSON AND DELILAH 



AMSON afterwards fell in love with 
another Philistine woman named Deli- 
lah. The Philistine chiefs saw in this 
a chance to capture the man whom they 
could not face in the open. They carefully ap- 
proached Delilah and found that she was willing, 
for a sum of money, to betray her lover. The 
Philistines believed there was some secret charm 
by which Samson obtained his prodigious 
strength. If they could only learn that secret 
and get that charm away from him he would be 
as other men and they would quickly overpower 
him. 

Delilah, of course, depended upon her witchery 
to draw the secret from Samson, and she used all 
the art she could command. For a time he tried 
to turn her aside with humorous talk, but she 
kept at him until he saw that there was no escape 
unless he told her something. 

"If they bind me with seven fresh bow 
strings," he said, "I shall be weak and like any 
other man." 

Delilah thought she had the secret at last. 

100 



SAMSON AND DELILAH 101 

While Samson was away, she ran to the Philis- 
tine rulers with her news, and they brought her 
seven fresh bow strings with which she bound 
him hand and foot as if in play. But the armed 
Philistines were lying in wait nearby. And 
when he was securely bound, as she thought, she 
suddenly cried out as if in great alarm : 

"Samson, the Philistines are upon you!" 

He sprang up and tore his bonds as though 
they were burnt threads. The Philistines did not 
emerge from their hiding place. And Delilah 
was so frightened she could hardly speak. Sam- 
son laughed. He did not know of the lurking 
Philistines. 

Delilah having recovered her voice said : 

' ' You have been fooling me. You have told me 
lies." 

And she began teasing him again day after 
day, until he said to her : 

"If they bind me with new ropes that were 
never used before I shall be as other men." 

She took the news again to the Philistines. 

"Now I have the secret," she told them. 

And they brought her ropes that had never 
been used before, and she, pretending to play, 
bound Samson with ropes, which he let her do, as 
if joining in the sport. When he was tied as 
tight as she could pull the knots, she leaped up 
and shouted : 



102 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

" Samson, the Philistines are here!" 

He did not know they were actually lying in 
wait, but he sprang up instinctively and tore the 
ropes apart. 

Again he laughed at the alarm of the pretty 
Delilah. It was a good joke on her, he thought. 

But Delilah began to scold angrily: "You have 
only been mocking and deceiving me !" she cried. 

For some days she refused to speak to him and 
he was much troubled. Then she began to tease 
him again. He thought it was just a woman 's 
curiosity. He dared not tell her the truth, but 
he wished to have peace again. Delilah con- 
tinued every time they were together to bring up 
the subject of his great strength and of the secret 
charm by which he maintained it. Samson had 
imprudently admitted that there was a secret, 
and Delilah was now determined to know that 
secret. It was curiosity now that impelled her, 
besides the wish to get possession of the immense 
sum of money the Philistines had promised her. 

No, he dared not tell her the great secret, that 
the strength lay in his unshorn hair. Still he 
must silence her. 

"If you wove seven locks of my hair with your 
loom!" he said to her. 

He never expected her to do so, but when he 
was asleep, she swiftly braided his hair with the 
tapestry she was weaving on her loom, and when 



SAMSON AND DELILAH 103 

she had fastened him in tight, she shouted 
again : 

" Samson, the Philistines are here!" 

He sprang up, tore the web and the pin that 
held it loose with his hair, and walked away. 

But the woman was determined. When he 
came again, which he did after a few days, she 
wept. She knew he did not love her, she cried. 
He only mocked her and told her lies. He did 
not trust her. He kept secrets from her. Every 
day she tormented him with her sighs and her 
reproaches. Sometimes she spoke affectionately 
to him, but all the time her mind was fixed upon 
her one purpose. In the midst of her sweet 
words and looks she would burst into tears be- 
cause she was sure he really did not love her. 

Tired to death, he blurted out the truth : 

"No razor has ever touched my head! I have 
been set apart from my birth ! But if my hair 
were cut, I would be weak as other men!" 

Now Delilah knew that at last she had the 
secret. She could hardly control the triumph in 
her eyes. 

"Come up this once again," was the message 
she despatched to the Philistines. "He has re- 
vealed his heart to me at last." 

The Philistines came with the money they had 
promised her in their hands. 

She made Samson go to sleep, as he often had 



104 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

done, with his head on her knees, and when he 
was deep in sleep, a deft-handed Philistine 
slipped into the room and quickly cut the long 
flowing locks. 

And now Delilah shook and pinched the sleep- 
ing man to wake him up, and when he could hear 
her she cried, as before : 

"The Philistines are here, Samson!" 

He sprang up, expecting to feel the pleasure 
of God-like power as usual filling his limbs, but 
as soon as he stood on his feet he knew that his 
strength had departed from him. 

Delilah had run to the furthest corner of the 
room and as he stood looking about dazed, the 
Philistines rushed out from their ambush and 
easily overpowered him. They bound and took 
him to their city of Gaza. When they had put 
out his two eyes they fastened a chain of brass 
around his feet, and compelled him to grind in 
their mill. He was weak and blind, but his hair 
had begun to grow again. 

II 

Then the Philistines appointed a day for re- 
joicing and for thanksgiving to Dagon, their god, 
because of their triumph over Samson. From all 
parts of the country they came to the temple of 
Dagon in Gaza, and thousands filled it from floor 



SAMSON AND DELILAH 105 

to roof. They were amused with dances and 
with athletic contests. And then a shout arose : 

"Bring out the Hebrew strong man! Let him 
perform for us." 

A boy was sent to lead the blind Hebrew from 
his prison pen. The boy led him into the center 
of the arena and left him. 

An uproar arose, in which no words could be 
heard. It was composed of thousands of shouts, 
shrieks, screams, laughs. Every vile epithet in 
their language was mingled in it. But Samson 
heard only one tremendous roar. His hair had 
grown almost to its former length, and with his 
hair had returned his strength. But his eyes 
could not return. Their sight was gone forever. 
He knew the strength was there again in those 
mighty muscles. JELe felt it swelling. He longed 
to send it forth to its work. But he gave no sign. 
He bided his time. And the Philistines knew 
nothing but their frenzied joy at having their 
dangerous foe in their power. Then, out of the 
wild tumult, a word became intelligible. It grew 
more distinct as larger numbers took it up. All 
the noise seemed to condense into one word; it 
was ' i Dance ! Dance ! ' ' 

A spearman stepped up to the blind Hebrew, 
who stood as if he heard nothing, and touched 
him with his weapon. Samson's head was bent 
forward slightly, his hands hanging at his sides. 



106 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

His legs and the upper part of his body were 
bare. The curling locks lay heavy upon his 
shoulders. 

At the touch of the cold steel he started, ex- 
tended his arms gropingly, and took a few awk- 
ward steps, bear fashion. Laughter shook the 
pillars of the temple. And then the thundering 
call for a "dance" returned. Samson had 
stopped with outspread hands. Again a soldier 
tapped him with his spear-head. The bear-like 
performance was repeated. The dancer seemed 
willing to do his best for the entertainment of his 
captors. His movements became livelier. He 
even attempted a leap from the ground, but in 
doing so apparently miscalculated his position, 
for the next moment he rolled in the dust. The 
vast audience rocked with laughter ; tears rolled 
down their cheeks. The soldier beckoned to the 
boy, who came and took the hand of the fallen 
dancer and helped him to his feet. He led him 
slowly to one side, where two great stone columns 
together bore the main weight of the densely 
packed galleries and roof. 

Samson knew the place he was in. He had 
seen it in former days. 

"Lead me to the pillars that hold up the 
house," he said to the boy, "that I may lean 
against them and rest." 

The boy did so. 



SAMSON AND DELILAH 107 

Samson placed a hand upon each pillar, and 
as he bowed his head he said, "O God, remember 
me, I pray Thee, only this once ! Let me die with 
the Philistines !" 

And then his features changed. They resumed 
their old formidable expression. He grasped the 
pillars, one in each arm. He bowed forward 
with all his might. The pillars bent ; they broke ; 
the house swayed and then came down, burying 
him with the thousands of Philistines under the 
ruins. 

So those that he slew at his death were more 
than he had slain in his life. 




SAMUEL 



LI, the chief priest of the temple at 
Shiloh, watched from his seat at the 
door-post a woman praying before the 
altar. Her lips moved silently and 
tears rolled down her cheeks. Eli became im- 
patient. 

He had been watching the woman an hour. 
Finally he made up his mind and spoke : 

"Are you not ashamed at your age to have 
drunk so deep % When will you be sober % ' ' 

The woman's lips stopped. She looked at him 
with surprise and embarrassment. 

"I am not drunk, sir," she said softly, "I have 
poured out my soul before God. Out of the 
depth of my sorrow have I spoken." 

Her sad voice shamed the old man. 

"Go in peace," he said, "and may the God 
of Israel grant your petition." 

The woman turned away with a happy look 
and rejoined her husband who was waiting at a 
neighboring inn. 

This had been her prayer : 

"0 God of hosts, if Thou wilt remember me 

108 



SAMUEL 109 

and give me a man-child, I will let him be con- 
secrated to Thee ; no razor shall touch his head, 
and he shall serve Thee all the days of his life. ' ' 

This prayer she had offered up for many 
years, but thus far in vain. 

In the morning the woman, whose name was 
Hannah, and her husband, Elkanah, rose early, 
worshipped again in the temple, and returned 
joyfully to their home in Ramah. 

And when, before the year was over, the son 
for whom she had prayed was born, she called 
him Samuel — " because I have asked him of 
God," she said, for so the name signifies in 
Hebrew. 

She waited until she had weaned him before 
she brought him to the temple according to her 
vow. She took with her three bullocks for sacri- 
fice, a measure of meal and a bottle of wine. The 
bullocks were slain on the altar of God, and after- 
wards the child was brought to Eli. 

Eli, older now, and dim-eyed, did not recog- 
nize the woman whom he had chidden for drunk 
enness in the holy house of God. 

' ' True as you live, I am that woman who stood 
by you here praying to God," said Hannah, 
happily. "For this child I prayed, and God 
granted me the petition I asked of him. There- 
fore also am I lending him to God. As long as 
he lives he shall be God's." 



110 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

And she left the lad with the priest and 
returned to Ramah. 

And Samuel grew and ministered in the 
sanctuary according to his strength. Every year 
Hannah came up to see him and always she 
brought with her gifts. The child wore a linen 
ephod, an apron, at his duties. Hannah brought 
him each time one that she had worked herself. 
And besides this, shirts and other useful articles 
of clothing. Sometimes she smuggled in a cake 
baked with raisins. 

And every time she found the boy a little taller 
and a little wiser, for Eli taught him. Some- 
times the clothes she brought were too small ; for 
Samuel was shooting up astonishingly. Then she 
stayed at Shiloh until she had made the neces- 
sary alterations. 

So she did until the boy was nine years old. 

Now Eli had two sons, who helped him in the 
duties of his office, but they were base men. 
From the pilgrims who came to the temple from 
afar they extorted gifts before allowing them to 
take part in the temple service. They insulted 
the women who came to pray at the temple. 
They did not believe in the temple-worship, but 
took part in it only for the profit they derived 
therefrom. 

Eli heard of all this and rebuked them, but not 
strong enough. 




FOR THIS CHILD I PRAYED. 



SAMUEL 111 

"The report I hear of you is not good/' he 
said. "You spread wickedness. You cause the 
temple of God to be despised/ ' 

His words fell upon deaf ears. Hophni and 
Phineas continued to rob, browbeat and insult. 
Honest people refused to go up to the temple. 
The house of God, instead of being a holy place, 
became a place of ill-repute. 

II 

One night Samuel was sleeping as usual with 
Eli in the temple. The boy lay in the room with 
the ark that contained the sacred relics and Eli 
slept in an alcove shut off by a curtain. 

The light burnt dimly over the ark, and Sam- 
uel could hear the ^ged priest's deep breathing. 
All else was still. He lay awake thinking of his 
mother who had that day come with her presents. 
She had asked him whether he was happy to 
serve in God's house. And as she asked she had 
looked at him wistfully. Yes, he was happy, he 
had replied, for under Eli's instruction he was 
learning many wonderful things that he never 
could have learnt elsewhere — of things in heaven 
above and in the earth below, of the greatness of 
God and the love He had shown for the people 
of Israel — how He had taken Moses and the 
people through the Eed Sea ; how He had blown 



112 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

down the walls of Jericho for Joshua; how He 
had fought for them in innumerable battles 
against the Amalekites, the Ammonites, the Hit- 
tites, the Midianites, the Philistines; how He 
raised up His servants that obeyed Him and 
gave them wise counsel and commissioned them 
with messages to the people, and sustained them 
in wonderful deeds, the fame of which echoed 
down the ages. Perhaps God would love him 
and raise him up to be a leader, to give justice 
and laws to the people. 

Hannah's face had lost its wistful expression. 
A proud happy look had come into its place. She 
kissed him and went quickly, saying she would 
bring him the altered ephod the next day. 

And now his mind teemed with such thoughts 
as usually came to him after each of his mother's 
visits. 

Why did he lie in this dim, barren room in- 
stead of in a cozy bed at home, near his mother, 
like other boys % Why was he given into the care 
of that old priest? Would he become like Eli? 
Eli served God honestly, but God had not shown 
him special favor. Never had wonders been 
done through him. Then he thought of his 
mother again and saw the years fly by and the 
time was come when she would no longer visit 
him, not even once a year; she would lie under 
the ground and he would be alone. His heart 



SAMUEL 113 

filled with anguish. As he lay there in his grief, 
he thought he heard his name called : 

" Samuel !" 

It must be Eli ! He sprang up crying : 

' ' Here I am, ' ? and ran over to the old man. 

Eli awoke as he came near. 

"You called. What is it?" asked the boy. 

i ' I did not call, ' ' said Eli. ' ' Go and lie down. ' ' 

The boy obeyed. 

He wondered how he .could have been so de- 
ceived. He now began to think of his father, for 
the voice, he thought, had been deep like a man's. 

Again he heard it : 

" Samuel!" 

He jumped up. It must be Eli. He ran to 
him. 

The old man opened his eyes. 

"You called me, and here I am," the boy said 
excitedly. 

Eli's face became more serious. 

' ' I did not call you, my son. Go and lie down 
again," he said. 

Scarcely had Samuel lain down when he heard 
his name as before. He thought now the aged 
priest must be ill and calling in his sleep. He 
hurried to him again. Eli was wide awake now. 
He understood. 

"Go lie down again," he said, "and if it call 
again say ' Speak, God, for thy servant hear- 
eth.' " 



114 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

Again the child heard his name. 

' ' Samuel ! Samuel ! ' - 

And he said : 

" Speak, for thy servant heareth." 

Said the voice : 

" Behold, I will do a thing in Israel at which 
both ears of all who hear shall tingle. I will per- 
form against Eli all the things which I have 
spoken against his house. When I begin I will 
also make an end, for I told him that I will judge 
his house for the wrong which he knows ; because 
his sons made themselves vile and he restrained 
them not. And therefore I have sworn that the 
iniquity of Eli's house shall not be purged with 
sacrifice or offerings any longer." 

Samuel lay quiet but awake the rest of the 
night, until it was time for him to open the doors 
of the temple. He tried to avoid Eli, for he could 
not bear to tell the old man what he had heard. 

But Eli came and asked : 

"What was it, Samuel, my son, that the Lord 
said to you?" 

And as Samuel hesitated he flared up : 

"God do so to you if you hide anything from 
me." 

So Samuel told him everything and hid noth- 
ing from him. 

Eli was now ninety years old. 



SAMUEL 115 

"Let God do what seems to Him good," he 
said, bowing his snow-white head. 



Ill 



That very day the report was brought to 
Shiloh that the Philistines had crossed the bor- 
der of Israel and had pitched their camp in 
Aphek. The Israelites mustered hastily and 
marched out to meet the invaders. They en- 
camped at Ebenezer. After some maneuvering 
the Philistines advanced. In the battle that fol- 
lowed the Israelites were put to flight, leaving 
four thousand dead on the field. They re-formed 
in their fortified camps and a council of war was 
held. 

" Why has God allowed us to be beaten by the 
Philistines?" asked one of the leaders. "He 
must have forgotten us. Let us bring Him to 
the battlefield that He may fight for us. Let us 
bring the ark of God here ! ' ? 

It was done, and at the sight of the ark, the 
Israelite army set up a shout that was heard by 
the Philistines miles awav. The Philistines were 
alarmed. The Israelites, they thought, must 
have been joined by great and unexpected rein- 
forcements. But when their scouts came in with 
the news that the Israelites had brought the ark 
of God into camp the dismay among the rank 



116 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

and file became greater still. But their leaders 
rallied them. 

"Be brave, men of Philistia," they shouted. 
"Acquit yourselves like men! or else you will 
become the slaves of the Hebrews, as they have 
been yours !" 

The Philistines fought with the desperation of 
terror. 

To their astonishment, as well as that of the 
Israelites, the ark of God did not help the Israel- 
ites, who were routed with a loss of thirty thou- 
sand slain. The ark was captured by the Philis- 
tines and borne off in triumph. 

Hophni and Phineas, the sons of Eli, were 
among the slain. 

IV 

Eli, the priest, now ninety-eight, sat at the city 
gate awaiting news from the scene of battle. He 
could see nothing distinctly. A soldier of the 
tribe of Benjamin, covered with dust and his 
face bloody, came running, followed by a crowd 
of people. His clothes were rent, and earth was 
strewn upon his bare head. 

Eli heard the murmur of many voices and the 
cries of lamentation. "What means this tu- 
mult?" he asked. 

The soldier approached him. 

"Whence come you?" asked Eli, tremblingly. 



SAMUEL 117 

"I have escaped from the battle, " panted the 
man, and faltered. 

" Speak out!" commanded the old man. 
"What has happened?" 

The soldier answered: 

"Israel is fled before the Philistines! There 
has been a great slaughter of the people ! Your 
two sons, Hophni and Phineas are dead, and the 
ark of God is taken!" 

When he heard the ark of God mentioned, Eli 
fell backward from his seat. He was a heavy 
man as well as old. He was dead when they 
picked him up. 

After that all Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, 
knew that Samuel was established as a prophet 
of God. Men came from afar to consult with 
him, and God let none of his words fall to the 
ground. What he said came true. He judged 
Israel all his days and grew in favor both with 
God and also with men. 




SAUL 

N the days when the Israelites had no 
king, they were divided among them- 
selves, and the Philistines harassed 
them continually. They began to think 
that if they had a king to lead them in battle 
they would be able to break the power that their 
enemies had gained over them. All the other 
nations had kings ; why not they ? 

They sent a deputation to the prophet Samuel, 
who was their judge and leader, asking that he 
give them a king. But Samuel tried to persuade 
them that they needed none. God was their king, 
he said. 

"An earthly king," he added, "will take your 
sons for soldiers; he will have them run before 
his chariot. He will have armies, and thousands 
of you will work for him, making his instruments 
of war. Your daughters shall serve him as cooks 
and confectioners. He will take your vineyards 
and orchards and give them to his favorites. He 
will take the tenth of your sheep, and you shall 
all be his slaves. Then you shall cry out because 
of the king which you shall have chosen, but God 
will not hear you then." 
"He seeks to frighten us, so that he himself 

118 



SAUL 119 

may retain his power/' said the Israelites to one 
another. 

Then the old prophet tried to teach them with 
a parable, as he would children. He said : 

"Once upon a time the trees came out to select 
a king. First they went to the olive tree and 
cried to him, 'Come and be our king!' But the 
olive answered, 'Shall I leave the oil for which 
gods and men honor me, and go to wave my 
branches idly over the trees % J After this the trees 
went with the same request to the fig tree. But 
he, too, preferred his sweet and precious fruit to 
the empty honors of royalty. Then they tried 
the vine. But he, too, refused and answered: 
' Shall I leave the wine that makes gods and men 
rejoice, to exercise lordship over the trees? Not 
IP At a loss what to do next, the trees at last 
offered the crown to the useless bramble-bush. 
He was greatly pleased by the honor, and said, 
with an important air: 'If you really mean to 
appoint me king in good faith, then you may 
come and rest under my shadow. But if not, may 
fire come out of the bramble-bush and consume 
you all, even the cedars of Lebanon/ " 

"A pretty fable," said one of the delegation. 
"But w r e ask you to choose us a king. Why 
should you give us a worthless bramble-bush?" 

When Samuel saw that they were determined, 
he withdrew in order to be alone. 



120 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

Then God spoke to him, saying, "Let them 
have their desire !" 

When he returned he cried, "Let every man 
go back to his city. It shall be as you wish!" 

Now there was a man of the tribe of Benjamin 
(the smallest tribe in Israel) named Kish, a man 
of great strength, and he had a son named Saul, 
who was a handsome youth and a head taller 
than any of the people. 

Some she-asses belonging to Kish having gone 
astray, Kish said to Saul: "Take a servant and 
go seek the asses." 

Saul obeyed. He and the servant wandered 
in their search over the wooded slopes of Mount 
Ephraim; they passed through the land of 
Shalish ; but they did not find the animals. They 
went on through the country of Shalim and the 
territory of the Benjaminites, but found no sign 
of them there. When they came to the land of 
Zuph, Saul said to his servant : 

"Let us return, or my father will begin to 
worry about us instead of the asses." 

The servant replied: "There is a man of God 
in this city. All that he says comes true. Let us 
go in. Perhaps he can tell us what road to take. ' ' 

"But what shall we give this man when we 
come to him?" asked Saul. "We have eaten up 
all our provisions, and we have no present to 
give him." 



SAUL 121 

"I have a quarter of a shekel left," replied the 
servant. "I will give him that to tell us our 
way." 

"Very well," said Saul, "let us go." 

So they turned towards the city. 

As they were mounting the hill upon which the 
city stood, they met a number of girls going out 
to the spring to fetch water. Saul addressed 
them respectfully : 

"Is the seer in this place?" he asked. 

"He is," one answered. "He has just come to 
the city. The people have a holiday to-day, and 
he has come to bless the sacrifice which has been 
prepared on the altar on the hilltop. The people 
will not eat until he has blessed it. Make haste, 
and you will catch him before he leaves his 
house." 

They hurried on, and when they entered the 
city, Samuel himself came towards them. 

"Tell me, pray, where is the seer's house?" 
said Saul to Samuel. 

"I am the seer," replied Samuel. "Go up 
with me to the hilltop. You shall eat with me 
to-day, and to-morrow I will send you on your 
way. As for the asses that were lost three days 
ago, do not think of them, for they are found." 

The young men looked at one another aston- 
ished, for they had said nothing of the asses. 

"But why should you trouble yourselves about 



122 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

them?" went on the seer. " Shall not all the 
treasures of Israel be yours and your family's?" 

"Mine!" cried Saul in amazement. "Why, I 
belong to the little tribe of Benjamin, and to one 
of the smallest families of the tribe." 

Samuel did not reply, but conducted the young 
men into the dining hall, where he seated them in 
the place of honor among the guests, of whom 
there were about thirty. 

"Bring the portion that I told you to set 
apart," said Samuel to the cook. 

Whereupon the cook brought him a whole ox 
thigh, well-fleshed and fat — a royal dish ! 

Samuel set it before Saul and said: "Take 
this, for it was put aside for none but you, as a 
sign to the people that yours is the king's share." 

When they had satisfied their hunger they 
went down to Samuel's house, where a bed was 
prepared for Saul and the servant upon the roof. 

At daybreak Samuel awoke the two young 
men. He accompanied them on their way and 
as they approached the end of the city, Samuel 
said to Saul : 

"Bid your servant pass on ahead of us, but 
yourself wait, that I may show you God's 
will." 

The servant passed on. Samuel took a vial of 
oil and poured a few drops upon Saul's bare 
head. Then he kissed him and said ; 



SAUL 123 

"The Lord has anointed thee to be captain of 
his heritage. You shall rescue it out of the 
hands of the Philistines." 

He added: "When you have left me to-day, 
you shall find two men by Rachel's sepulcher at 
Zelzah and they will say to you : 'The asses which 
you went to seek are found, and your father has 
left off worrying about them and now sorrows 
for you.' After that, you will meet three men at 
Deborah's oak, on their way to the sanctuary at 
Bethel, the first carrying three kids, the second 
three loaves of bread, the third a bottle of wine. 
They will salute you and offer you two loaves of 
bread, which you must accept. Then when you 
come to Gibeah, the hill of God, where the trophy 
of the Philistines stands, a band of prophets will 
meet you at the entrance of the city. They will 
come down from the height with drums and tam- 
bourines, flutes and harps, playing before them 
while they themselves are prophesying. Then 
the spirit of God will come upon you too; you 
will break into a holy ecstasy and become another 
man. When these signs have made you confident 
that God has indeed called you, then you yourself 
will know what next to do, for God will help 
you." 

Everything happened as Samuel foretold. At 
Rachel's tomb two men met them with the news 
that the asses had been found. At Deborah's oak 



124 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

three men saluted them, one carried three kids, 
the second three loaves of bread, the third a 
bottle of wine; they offered Saul two loaves of 
bread, which he accepted as he had been told to 
do. At Gibeah, the hill of God, a band of 
prophets met them with drums and tambourines, 
with flutes and harps, singing and prophesying. 
Suddenly Saul's heart grew light and he joined 
the prophets in their chanting and dancing. 

People laughed at the sight of the sturdy 
young farmer stepping gayly along with the 
ragged troops of prophets, singing praises to 
God. 

"What has come over the son of Kish?" they 
called to one another. "Is Saul, too, among the 
prophets V 9 "Who is his father? Is it not 
Kish?" 

And this saying, "Is Saul, too, among 
prophets V afterwards became a by- word 
throughout the land. 

Saul went on dancing and singing until he 
came to Gibeah, where he had an uncle living. 
He stopped and told his uncle of the wonderful 
powers of Samuel, but no word of having been 
anointed king. 

He went on, and as he neared his home he saw 
his father sitting on the plow looking anxiously 
in the distance. The asses were grazing in the 
field nearby. When Saul hove in sight his father 



SAUL 125 

arose with a look of relief and strode to meet 
him. 

"Well, and where have you been this long 
time?" he asked, 

" Looking for the asses," replied Saul calmly, 
but with the odd light still in his eyes. "And 
when we saw we could not find them, we turned 
aside to consult with Samuel." 

"And what did the man of God say to you?" 
asked his father. 

"He told us that they were found," said 
Saul. 

The farmer marveled at the seer's wisdom. 

But of the kingship Saul said nothing. 

For Saul was a very modest man and could not 
bring himself to speak of his own glory. How- 
ever, it soon became known throughout the land 
that Samuel had picked Saul to be king over 
Israel. 

There were many who said : 

"Who is this Saul that he should be our king? 
Don't we know his father, — just a plain 
farmer?" 

Saul went back to his farm-work, knowing in 
his heart that he was a king, and awaiting the 
summons from Samuel to take his place as head 
of the nation. But he was yet to be tested. 

One day, as he was driving his yoke of oxen 
from the field, where he had been plowing, he 



126 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

saw with surprise, men going about with tearful 
eyes, and women sobbing aloud. Here and there 
aged people vented their feelings in loud out- 
cries. 

"What ails the people? What is the cause of 
this lamentation?" asked Saul. 

And they told him. 

Messengers had just arrived from the town of 
Jabesh. It was their tale that had set the people 
weeping. 

Nahash, the chief of the barbarous Ammon- 
ites, had besieged Jabesh and shut it up tight, so 
that there was no escape for its inhabitants. 
Surrender or die, was the ultimatum of Nahash. 
The people of Jabesh sent word to Nahash, say- 
ing: 

"We are willing to surrender if you will make 
terms with us. We on our part will serve you as 
bondsmen." 

The Ammonite chief had replied : 

"I will make terms with you on one condition : 
that I may thrust out all your right eyes as a 
sign of my contempt for your nation." 

The elders of Jabesh consulted and said to 
him: 

"Give us a seven days' respite, that we may 
send messengers to all the provinces of Israel, 
and then if there be none to save us we will come 
out to you." 






SAUL 127 

The Ammonite chief scornfully granted them 
the truce. 

"None of the Israelites will dare come against 
me!" he boasted. 

When Saul heard these tidings he became 
furious. He took the yoke of oxen that he was 
driving, hewed them in pieces, and sent the 
pieces throughout every section of Israel, with 
this curt message : 

"Whosoever comes not out after Saul, so shall 
it be done to his oxen!" 

And the fear of the Lord fell upon the people, 
and they come out with one consent. 

Three hundred and thirty thousand men at 
arms rallied round Saul's banner. 
To the messengers from Jabesh he said: 
"To-morrow, before the heat of mid-day, you 
shall have help." 

The messengers returned, and the men of 
Jabesh were glad. They sent this statement to 
their blood-thirsty besiegers: 

"To-morrow we will come out to you, and you 
shall do with us as you will." 

Saul divided his army into three parts and 
advanced during the night. He fell upon the 
besiegers in the early morning watch from three 
sides. The haughty Nahash and his Ammonites 
being unprepared for such strategy were thrown 
into confusion. Great numbers fell in the fight, 



128 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

and those that fled were scattered in every direc- 
tion, so that no two were left together. 

The occasion had come, and Saul had proved 
himself a real king of men. 

Samuel, the man of God, arrived upon the 
battle scene. 

"Come, let us go to Gilgal and establish our 
kingdom there 1" he cried. 

So the victorious army with Saul at its head 
marched to Gilgal amid shouts and songs of tri- 
umph. They slaughtered oxen and sheep and 
feasted and made merry, and they raised Saul 
upon their shields and acclaimed him king. 

Some of the more enthusiastic ones shouted : 

"Where are those who said ' Shall this man 
Saul reign over us ? ' Let us kill them ! ' ' 

But Saul interposed. 

"No Israelite shall be put to death to-day! 
This day God has given us the victory. We will 
do nothing to stain it!" 








DAVID AND GOLIATH 

LIAB, Abinadab, and Shammai, the 
three eldest sons of Jesse of Bethlehem, 
were in the army of Saul, fighting the 
battle of Israel against the Philistines. 

Every volunteer in the Israelite army was ex- 
pected to keep himself supplied with provisions 
at his own expense, or through the kindness of 
friends. One evening, therefore, Jesse said to 
his youngest son, David, a muscular youth of 
sixteen : 

"Take half a bushel of parched corn in the 
morning, a dozen loaves of bread and some 
cheeses to your brothers in the camp. Give some- 
thing to their captain, see how they are getting 
along, and whether they need anything else." 

David arose before dawn, got the provisions 
together, and set out in an oxcart for Schachoh, 
a few hours' journey from Bethlehem, where the 
army of the Israelites and the army of the Phil- 
istines were encamped on opposite slopes of the 
valley of Elah. 

He reached the camp at sunrise, just as the 
ranks were being drawn up for roll-call. He 
left the cart with the baggage guard and went in 

129 



130 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES | 

search of his brothers. The warlike scene de- 
lighted him. He would gladly have volunteered 
with his brothers, but Jesse had refused to per- 
mit it. He was needed to help with the sheep at 
home. 

Eliab, Abinadab and Shammai were no less 
pleased to receive the gifts and to hear the news 
from the farm than David was to mingle with 
the fighting men. The four sat down on the 
ground and question and answer flew from one 
to the other. 

While they were still talking, an excited hum, 
like the sound from an aroused beehive, arose 
about them. David noticed that a change had 
come over the faces of his brothers and of the 
other soldiers around them. They seemed ner- 
vous, distracted, and angry. Eliab, Abinadab 
and Shammai arose and mingled with their com- 
rades. David was left alone watching the men 
as they moved about in earnest discussion. 

He tried to understand the nature of the ex- 
citing topic from phrases that he overheard, but 
he was unable to do so. Finally he approached 
a group of soldiers and asked what was the cause 
of the disturbance. 

One of them pointed down into the valley, say- 
ing: 

" There comes Goliath, the Philistine of Gath, 
to defy all Israel!" 



DAVID AND GOLIATH 131 

On the level ground between the two armies 
David now discerned for the first time the figure 
of a man advancing from the Philistine camp. 
His stature was immense, several feet taller 
than the tallest Israelite. Upon his head was a 
helmet of brass that blazed in the sun. A coat of 
mail that must have weighed not less than 
seventy-five pounds covered his. huge body. 
Greaves of brass protected his legs. A war-mace, 
also of brass, hung over his shoulder, and in his 
hand he carried a spear, the staff of which was 
like a weaver's beam and the head a ten-pound 
iron beak. 

When this giant had reached a spot a little 
more than an arrow's flight from the Israelite 
army he halted, and shouted in a powerful voice : 

"Why are you come out in battle array? Am 
not I a Philistine and you servants of Saul? 
Choose you a man and let him come down to me. 
If he be able to fight with me and kill me, then 
we will be your servants ; but if I defeat and kill 
him, then you shall be our servants and serve 
us." 

He paused a moment and then, more loudly 
than before, shouted : 

"I defy the armies of Israel to-day; give me 
a man that we may fight together ! ' ' 

"Who is this heathen that defies the armies of 
the living God?" demanded David angrily. 



132 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

"That is Goliath of Gath," repeated the same 
soldier as before. "He has been saying that 
same thing for the last forty days. And the man 
that kills him," he added with a quizzical look, 
"will be made rich beyond dreams by the king, 
will get the king's daughter in marriage, and his 
family shall be free of all taxes." 

Eliab, the oldest brother, came up moodily in 
time to hear the soldier's last words. 

"What are you doing here?" he burst out 
peevishly, turning upon David. "With whom 
did you leave those poor sheep on the mountain ? 
I know your proud and unruly spirit ! You are 
hanging around out of idle curiosity, just to see 
a fight!" 

"Why, what have I done?" retorted David. 
"Is there any harm in asking questions?" 

He turned away from his angry brother and 
inquired of other soldiers about the insolent 
giant of Gath. Forty days had the two armies 
been facing each other equally matched, but fear- 
ing to move from their advantageous positions, 
and every day had Goliath come forth with his 
challenge which thus far no man had dared 
accept. 

"I will fight this Philistine," said David, and 
he asked to be led to the king. 

The soldier readily offered to show him the 
way. 



DAVID AND GOLIATH 133 

"This youth offers to go out and fight the 
Philistine, ' ' said his guide, with a humorous 
drawl, presenting him to the king. 

Saul looked at the young man curiously, a 
faint smile on his lips. 

"You seem strong," he said kindly, "but do 
you think you have any chance against that huge 
man?" 

"Sir," replied David, "once when I was 
watching my father's sheep a lion came and took 
a lamb from the flock. I followed, and with my 
bare hands killed him and saved the lamb from 
his mouth. Another time I killed a bear in the 
same way. That heathen Philistine shall be as 
the lion and the bear. God, who saved me from 
their jaws, will save me from him." 

Saul's eyes kindled. He himself had once had 
the assurance as strongly as this youth that God 
was on his side. 

"Let him go!" he said abruptly. "But he 
must have armor and weapons. Give him 
mine!" 

They brought the king's gleaming sword, his 
coat of mail and massive shield and helmet of 
brass. 

David took the sword in his hands, but quickly 
laid it down. 

"This is too heavy for me," he said. 

He ran down to the brook that flowed beside 



134 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

the camp and picked out five of the smoothest 
and roundest pebbles. These he put into his 
shepherd's wallet. He had brought his sling also 
with him. With this and his shepherd's staff he 
descended the slope and stepped out upon the 
level ground where the big Philistine stood 
shouting his taunts at the Hebrew army. 

When Goliath saw the ruddy-cheeked youth 
coming towards him with nothing but a shep- 
herd's staff and a sling, he scarcely could believe 
his eyes. Then he laughed aloud so that his guf- 
faws echoed in the valley. 

"Am I a dog," he shouted, "that you come at 
me with a stick?" 

And when he had laughed to his heart's con- 
tent he began to curse frightfully, calling upon 
his gods to annihilate the impudent young 
Israelite. 

6 ' Come on ! " he yelled. ' i And by Dagon I will 
give your flesh to the fowls of the air and the 
beasts of the field!" 

David replied in a clear voice: "You come at 
me with a sword and a spear and a shield, but I 
come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the 
God of the armies of Israel whom you have de- 
fied. This day will He deliver you into my hand, 
and I will take your head and give your body and 
the carcasses of your Philistine host to the 
wolves and the vultures, so that all who behold us 




DAVID SLINGS THE STONE. 



DAVID AND GOLIATH 135 

shall see, that God does not save with sword 
and spear, and the whole earth shall know that 
there is a God in Israel!" 

The Philistine raised his mighty spear and 
advanced. David ran to meet him, and as he ran 
he fitted one of the round pebbles into his sling. 
When he was near enough he whirled his sling 
and let fly. The stone struck Goliath full in the 
forehead and sank into his brain. He plunged 
forward, and lay face to the earth. In a moment 
David was upon him. Having no sword, he drew 
the giant's own blade, hewed off his head, and 
held it aloft by the hair for both armies to see. 

At that sight every man in the Philistine host 
felt his strength leaving him, but the Israelites 
raised a shout of exultation. They swept down 
from their position upon the Philistines, driving 
them as the wind drives the dust. 

And when they returned victorious, they 
caught up David, who had remained in the camp, 
and shouting, cheering, mad with joy, bore him 
to the king's tent. Saul was captivated with the 
simple, modest behavior of Goliath's conqueror. 
Henceforth, he said, David must live with him 
at the court, and all the other rewards he had 
offered to the one who should overcome the 
Philistine giant should be duly meted out to 
David. 

The next day the army took up its triumphal 



136 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

march homeward. The news of the great victory 
had spread over the length and breadth of the 
land, and from every village and town came 
forth troops of girls and young women to wel- 
come the conquerors with song and flowers. The 
defenders of their country were praised to the 
accompaniment of the cymbal and the harp. One 
refrain swept from choir to choir. It was this : 

"Saul hath slain his thousands, 
But David his tens of thousands !" 

The soldiers joined in and boomed it in chorus. 
But a shadow settled upon the countenance of 
Saul, the king. The refrain pleased him not. 






DAVID AND JONATHAN 

ING SAUL had a son named Jonathan 
who was of the same age as David. 
From the moment these two first met 
they became fast friends. The young 
prince, to show his affection, gave David a sword, 
a bow and a girdle. 

But from the time of the battle of Elah a 
strange melancholy had settled upon Saul, the 
king. None knew the cause of it but Saul him- 
self and Samuel, the prophet. For, a few weeks 
before that battle, the prophet had come to Saul 
with a message of doom. It ended with these 
words : 

"Thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, and 
the Lord hath rejected thee from being king over 
Israel/ ' 

As the prophet turned to go, Saul had laid hold 
of his mantle to detain him, and it tore. And 
Samuel had said to him : 

"The Lord hath torn the kingdom of Israel 
from thee this day, and hath given it to a neigh- 
bor of thine, who is a better man than thou I" 

137 



138 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

And now who should that neighbor be to whom 
the kingdom was to be given but the young man 
whom God had so marvelously helped in the 
slaying of Goliath, his own son-in-law, the favor- 
ite of the army and the people ! 

The king's melancholy was deeper than mere 
disappointment at the failure of his career. It 
had become a disease of the mind, and he strug- 
gled to free himself from the shadow. He had 
discovered that David was a gifted singer and 
musician, and nothing soothed the king, in spite 
of his secret jealousy, like the music of David's 
voice and David's harp. As he listened moodily, 
he often forgot whose voice it was and whose 
hand that calmed his spirit. 

He drank in new life with the sounds. But 
now and again a wave of fury would sweep 
through him. His eyes glared; his fingers 
clutched convulsively. David, knowing nothing 
of what was passing in the king's mind, regarded 
these actions as merely symptoms of Saul's mal- 
ady, and tried all the more to put his whole soul 
into the music. 

But one day something happened that threw 
a fierce light upon the darkness of the king's 
mind. Saul was reclining upon a divan, staring 
gloomily. David, on the opposite side of the 
room, played and sang. In the dim light of the 
room David saw now and then the king's eyes 



DAVID AND JONATHAN 139 

roll in frenzy and his features convulsed with 
passion. Never for a moment did the player's 
gaze leave the king, and luckily for him it did 
not. For he saw the king's hand suddenly grasp 
the javelin that always stood within reach, and 
the next moment it would have transfixed David 
where he sat, if glance and motion on his part had 
not been like a single flicker of lightning. The 
javelin hummed in the planking back of the spot 
where he had been sitting. He did not wait for 
more, but fled the place. 

A few hours later Saul's guards appeared at 
David's dwelling. 

David's young wife, Michal, Saul's own 
daughter, met them at the door. "He is sick 
and in bed," she said, and showed them a pros- 
trate form in bed, pillowed upon a goat's-hair 
bolster. 

The guards, perplexed, returned with the mes- 
sage to their master. 

"Bring him here, bed and all!" shouted the 
king wildly. 

The soldiers went a second time. There was 
the form in the same place on the bed as before. 
They paid no attention to Michal, who remained 
at the door, but advanced to take up the bed. 
And then they saw that the figure was not that 
of David, but a wooden image of a heathen god — 
a battle trophy from one of David's raids. 



140 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

Two of the men quickly seized Michal and 
brought her before the king. 

"Why have you deceived me and sent away 
my enemy so that he is escaped ?" demanded 
Saul. 

" Would you have had him kill me?" asked 
his daughter demurely. 

David had been let down with a rope from a 
rear window as soon as the coming of the soldiers 
was known. He fled to Ramah, where he was 
safe for a time with the prophet Samuel. 

The king ordered his men to say nothing of 
the affair, and everybody still thought of David 
as the king's favorite. 

A fortnight later David secretly returned to 
the king's city. He went straight to Jonathan's 
house. When they had embraced affectionately, 
as usual, David began to speak of the king's 
action. He quickly saw that Jonathan knew 
nothing of it. He related what had occurred. 

"What have I done? What is my sin that 
your father seeks my life?" he cried. 

"It is not so," replied Jonathan. "It was but 
the delirium of a sick man that caused him to 
throw the spear at you. If he had had such 
thoughts, he would have told me. He hides 
nothing from me." 

"Your father knows of our friendship," said 



DAVID AND JONATHAN 141 

David. "But as God lives and as you live there 
was only a step between me and death.' ' 

"What is to be done?" asked Jonathan 
soberly. 

David had his plan ready. 

"To-morrow is the new moon festival, and I 
will be expected at the king's table. Now, I will 
stay away and hide in the field. If your father 
should remark upon my absence, say that I 
earnestly requested to be allowed to run over to 
Bethlehem to attend the yearly gathering of the 
family. If he says ' It is well, ' I shall have peace ; 
but if he be angry, you may be sure he has de- 
termined upon evil. In that event, deal fairly 
with me, for we have made a covenant with one 
another before God. Kill me yourself if you 
think there is evil in me, but do not betray me to 
your father." 

"Do not utter such thoughts," cried Jonathan. 
"If I were certain that my father had such 
designs against you, would I not tell you ? Come, 
let us go out into the field." 

They went out, and Jonathan, looking up at 
the starry sky, exclaimed : 

"O, God of Israel, if I do not tell David the 
truth after I have tested my father then may I 
be treated so, and worse! But promise me, 
David, that when God has cut off all your 



142 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

enemies, as I know he will, that you will show 
kindness to me and to others of my house. " 

And when they had so sworn to one another, 
Jonathan said: 

"Hide behind yonder pile of stones to-morrow 
when the feast is on. I shall come out and shoot 
arrows as if at a mark in your direction. If I 
say to the boy whom I send for the arrows, ' They 
are this side of you, ' then you may come, for then 
you will know there is peace and no harm to you 
intended. But if I say to the lad, ' The arrows are 
beyond you,' then go, for God has sent you 
away." 

With that understanding they parted. 

The next day was the feast of the new moon. 

The king dined in state and all the retainers, 
courtiers and generals residing at the court sat 
at table with him. From his seat at the head of 
the table Saul glared at David's vacant seat. 

"Why does not the son of Jesse come to 
table?" he demanded, in a loud voice. He knew 
well the reason, but this was his way of making 
his quarrel public. 

"He asked leave to go to Bethlehem to attend 
a family gathering, ' \ responded Jonathan. 

Saul's face grew black with anger, not so much 
at the words as at the conciliatory tone which 
Jonathan could not keep out of his voice. 

"You child of a wicked and foolish woman," 



DAVID AND JONATHAN 143 

he thundered. "I know you have chosen this 
son of Jesse as your comrade for your own de- 
struction. As long as he is above ground you 
shall not be established in the kingdom. Send 
and fetch him, for he shall surely die." 

"Why should he die? What has he done?" 
exclaimed Jonathan, unguardedly. 

Instead of replying, Saul reached for the 
javelin that stood always ready to his hand, and 
Jonathan hurriedly quit the hall, fierce anger in 
his heart, for he knew now that his friend had 
spoken the truth and Saul had resolved upon 
David's death. 

"Follow and observe where he goes," wliis- 
pered Saul with a cunning look to the captain of 
his guard. 

The captain and four spearmen quietly slipped 
out of the hall. The king, making a great effort, 
bade all be seated and proceed with the feast. 

Jonathan went at once out to the field with his 
bow and quiver full of arrows accompanied by a 
boy, as if to practice shooting. 

"Run, find the arrows," he said to the lad, 
letting one fly in the direction of the stone heap. 

The boy ran, and Jonathan shot another arrow 
beyond him. 

" It is beyond you ! Make haste ! Hurry, stay 
not!" 

The boy ran towards the pile of rocks behind 



144 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

which David lay hidden, sought for the arrows 
in the grass, and returned them to his master. 
Jonathan handed him the bow to carry home. 

As soon as the boy had turned his back, David 
appeared on the other side of the pile of stones. 
He bowed thrice to his princely friend and then 
ran rapidly southward. 



"^™ 



DAVID AND SAUL 

AVID ran until he came to Nob, the city 
of priests. Ahimelech, the chief priest, 
recognized him. 

But why are you alone V 9 asked 



Ahimelech. 

1 ' The king has sent me upon urgent business, 
of which no man must know," replied David. 
"Have you any food on hand?" 

"Only the hallowed loaves laid out upon the 
altar, but no common bread, " answered the 
priest. 

"These will serve," said David. "It is ' com- 
mon ' bread, though it were sanctified to-day. 
And what have you in the way of arms ? I have 
neither spear nor sword, I left in such haste." 

i i There is the sword of Goliath, the Philistine, 
whom you slew in the valley of Elah," replied 
Ahimelech. "It is wrapped in a cloth behind 
the altar. Take it if you wish." 

"There is none like that," said David. "Give 
it to me." 

With the sword wrapped in its cloth in one 
arm, and the basket of bread in the other, he 
made his way towards the country of the Philis- 
tines, and took refuge in the cave of Adullam. 

145 



146 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

When his father and mother, his brothers and 
other relations heard of his whereabouts, they 
joined him in the cave, for they feared Saul's 
vengeance. Soon others came, everyone that was 
in distress and everyone that was discontented, 
about four hundred men, and David became their 
captain. The cave of Adullam was the head- 
quarters of the band from which they sallied 
forth upon raids into the country of the Philis- 
tines. 

Now, news came that Saul was advancing with 
a small army to capture his outlawed son-in-law. 
David had recaptured the town of Keilah from 
the Philistines. It was Saul's plan to bottle him 
up in the town, depending upon the treachery of 
the men of Keilah to deliver David into his 
hands. David knew that he would have no 
chance for his life if he remained in Keilah. He, 
therefore, led his band out betimes, and took 
refuge in the forest of Ziph. 

The Israelites in the neighborhood of Mount 
Ziph, loyal to the king, sent the king word. 

"God bless you, men of Ziph, for standing by 
me," Saul answered them. " Watch him care- 
fully, and note all the lurking places where he 
hides himself, for he is very cunning, and when 
you are sure of your man send me word, and I 
will come and take him." 

Having received more exact information from 



DAVID AND SAUL 147 

the Ziphites, Saul appeared upon the scene. But 
David was wary. Leaving Mt. Ziph, he came 
down to the forest of Maen with Saul in pursuit. 
Saul's army outnumbered David's three to one, 
but David was better acquainted with the 
ground. The band fled to the opposite side of 
the mountain. Saul came on doggedly, and see- 
ing David's tactics to keep on circling the moun- 
tain, he divided his army and left one division to 
intercept the fugitives while he continued follow- 
ing on their rear. A battle seemed unavoidable, 
and yet David wished to do his utmost not to 
fight the king. Night was falling, and in the 
twilight David beheld from a rocky ledge the 
army of Saul camped in a dell below. The king 
himself was clearly visible in the midst of his 
men. 

"Who will go down with me to Saul's camp?" 
asked David, turning to the men around him. 

Abishai, brother of Joab, who was David's 
chief lieutenant, was standing on one side, and 
Ahimelech, the Hittite, on the other side. 

"I will go with you," responded Abishai, 
quick as a flash. 

They waited until the night was well advanced, 
and then crept down carefully to the king's 
camp. Saul and his men, not suspecting the 
nearness of the enemy, had lain down to sleep, 
after posting only the usual sentinels. These 



148 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

were easily evaded by the two men accustomed to 
passing along mountain trails without turning a 
stone or rustling a leaf. They found Saul lying 
in the center of a circle of sleeping men, who lay 
exhausted from long and unusual labor. All day 
they had been fighting their way over stony and 
uncertain paths, through dense underbrush and 
trackless forests. Not a man stirred. Saul's 
spear was stuck upright in the ground beside his 
bolster. Near him lay his general, Abner. 

The two intruders stopped at the outer circle 
of sleepers, where a trench had been dug and 
rude earthworks thrown up. 

"God has delivered your enemy into your 
hand/' whispered Abishai in David's ear. "Let 
me pin him to the earth with my spear. I will 
not need to strike a second time." 

David grasped his companion's arm. 

"Don't touch him," he whispered back. "His 
day will come in battle. God forbid that we 
should lay hands upon God's anointed ! Can you 
steal the spear and the pitcher of water at his 
head?" 

For reply, Abishai slid like a shadow over the 
breast-work, crawled up to the sleeping king, 
and returned with the pitcher and the spear. 

They returned to the ledge where their band 
lay. Going out upon the rock, David shouted as 
loud as he could : 



DAVID AND SAUL 149 

' ' Ho ! Abner, the son of Ner ! Why don't you 
answer, Abner?" 

Presently a voice called back : 

"Who are you that you call to the king?" 

"You are a valiant man, Abner!" returned 
David. "You have no equal! Why don't you 
guard your master, God's anointed? Where 
are the king's spear and the pitcher of water 
that were at his bolster?" 

There was silence for a while. 

Then the king's voice was heard : "Is that your 
voice, David, my son?" 

"It is my voice, my lord king," replied David. 
"Why does my lord the king thus pursue me? 
What is my crime ? How have I sinned ? If I 
have done wrong, tell me, that I may repent ; and 
if not, why am I driven from home and hunted 
like a partridge over the mountains?" 

Again there was silence. Then Saul's voice 
was heard again. 

"I have sinned! Return, my son David, for I 
will seek no more to do you harm, because my life 
was dear to you this night. I have played the 
fool, and have erred exceedingly!" 

David's voice was husky as he replied : 

"Here is the king's spear. Let one of your 
men come and get it in the morning." 

The next day Saul ordered a retreat, and 
David was left to go his way. 



150 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 






But he had no faith in Saul 's promise. ' ' Some 
day, when I am not on my guard, the king will 
kill me/' he thought. "It would be better for 
me to escape while I can." 

He led his band across the border to the Philis- 
tine city of Gath, and offered the service of him- 
self and his men to King Achish. 

David's reputation as a fighter was well known 
to Achish, and so also was the fact that he was a 
rebel against Saul. 

Achish, therefore, readily accepted the offer. 
He had just started hostilities against the king- 
dom of Israel and he expected David and his 
band to keep up a guerrilla warfare against the 
Israelites. The city of Ziklag was given to them 
as a rendezvous and there they left their wives 
and children, their aged relatives and the sick. 
But the band made no raids against their coun- 
trymen. Instead, they marched out to the south 
in the direction of Egypt, and fought against the 
savages that infested that portion of the country 
— the Gesherites, the Gezerites, and the Amale- 
kites. Achish believed always when they returned 
from one of their expeditions laden with booty 
that they had been marauding in the south of 
Judah. And David left him in error. 

But finally, Achish, king of the Philistines, 



DAVID AND SAUL 151 

collected a great army for a decisive battle with 
Saul, king of Israel, and he said to David : 

" You and your men shall go out to battle with 
me." 

To which David grimly replied : 

"You shall certainly learn what your humble 
servant can do." 

But as the army marched forth and the Philis- 
tine chiefs beheld David and his band bringing 
up the rear with Achish, a storm of protest arose. 

"What are these Hebrews doing here?" they 
demanded. 

"Why, this is David, one of Saul's men," 
replied the Philistine king, "who has been with 
me a year or more and I have found no fault in 
him!" 

The reply stirred the anger of the chiefs yet 
more. 

"Make that fellow go back to the town you 
have assigned him ! You don't want him to turn 
upon us during a battle! What better way to 
reconcile himself to his master than with Philis- 
tine heads?" 

"You will have to return," said Achish to 
David, reluctantly. ' ' I have nothing to complain 
of in your conduct, but you see how the chiefs 
are opposed to your coming with us." 

"But what have I done that I may not go and 



152 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

fight against the enemies of my lord, the king?" 
asked David. 

"You are all right, good as an angel in my 
view, but the chiefs object. So start early to- 
morrow, and take the road home!" 

David and his men therefore arose early the 
next morning, and began their return march. 
But when they reached Ziklag, their refuge, on 
the third day, a terrible sight met their eyes. The 
city was a heap of smoking ruins ! The Amale- 
kites had come up in their absence, burnt the 
city, and carried off all the women and children. 

David and his men were so overcome that they 
wept, but after the first shock was over, ugly 
looks began to be cast at the captain. The men 
gathered in groups, whispering. Somebody was 
to blame. Why had not the captain taken pre- 
cautions against such a tragedy ? David guessed 
what was in their minds and saw the need of 
prompt action. He announced that he would set 
out immediately in pursuit of the robbers. The 
men were exhausted from their six days' march, 
but they received the order with a cheer. 

The six hundred, with David in command, 
pushed on as rapidly as they could until they 
came to the brook Besor, which had to be swum. 
Two hundred being too weak to make the effort, 
were left behind, and the four hundred pressed 
on. 






DAVID AND SAUL 153 

They followed in the general direction they 
imagined the Amalekites had taken. After a few 
hours ' march, they found a man in the field 
almost dead of thirst and hunger. He was too 
weak to talk. They gave him bjead and water, a 
piece of a cake of figs, and a cluster of raisins. 
He revived and began to talk. He was an Egyp- 
tian; slave of an Amalekite. "My master aban- 
doned me three days ago because I fell sick," he 
said. "We made an invasion upon the Chereth- 
ites and on the borders of Judah and Caleb. We 
burnt Ziklag." 

"Can you lead me to this company?" asked 
David. 

"Promise that you will not kill me, nor deliver 
me into the hands of my master, and I will lead 
you, ' ' he replied. 

David promised, and the Egyptian led them 
round a turn of the hill. The Amalekites were 
spread out in the valley below, eating, drinking 
and dancing. 

As the sun sank, and darkness began to gather, 
David and his six hundred swept down the hill- 
side. The Amalekites were taken utterly by sur- 
prise. Two hundred of them mounted camels 
and managed to escape. The rest fell in the 
fight. 

Every captive taken from Ziklag was found 
there in that hollow among the hills, unharmed, 



154 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

and there was an immense store of booty col- 
lected by the Amalekites in their various raids. 

Happy with their recovered wives and chil- 
dren, the band returned to the brook Besor, 
where their two hundred comrades joined them, 
and together they proceeded to Ziklag. 

In the meanwhile, the battle between the 
Philistines under Achish and the Israelites 
under Saul had been raging. 

On the third day after David's return to Zik- 
lag a man with earth on his head and his clothes 
rent presented himself to David, bowing to the 
ground. 

" Whence come you?" asked David. 

"I am escaped out of the camp of Israel," was 
the reply. 

"How went the fight?" asked David. 

' ' The Israelites have fled, many are fallen and 
dead, and Saul and Jonathan too are dead!" 

"Saul and Jonathan dead? How do you 
know?" demanded David. 

"I happened to be on Mount Gilboa and saw 
Saul wounded and leaning upon his spear. The 
chariots and horsemen of the Philistines were 
coming up rapidly. As he looked behind him he 
saw me and begged me to come nearer. ' Who are 
you?' he asked. I answered, 'I am an Amale- 
kite. ' He then begged me to kill him. So I slew 
him, for I was sure he could not live. And I took 



DAVID AND SAUL 155 

the crown from his head, and the bracelet from 
his arms, and have brought them here to my 
lord!" 

When David heard this, he cried sorrowfully : 
"How are the mighty fallen in the midst of 
battle! O Jonathan, slain on the mountains, I 
am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan ! 
Very pleasant have you been to me; your love 
was wonderful, passing the love of women. How 
are the mighty fallen, and the weapons of war 
perished!" 

And after that David returned home and was 
made first king of Judah, his native province, 
and some time later of all Israel. 




SOLOMON 

HEN Solomon became king of Israel on 
the death of his father, David, he had a 
dream. He heard God's voice saying: 
' ' Choose one gift ! Whatever it may 
be, I will give it to you." 

In his dream the young king thought of all the 
good things he would like to possess — riches, 
long life, power, wisdom. Riches, he thought, 
might be lost; health is of no value if one does 
not know how to use it — an ox is still an ox even 
though he be healthy; power often makes one 
unhappy. Wisdom, however, ennobles the poor 
and the weak. Wisdom gives value to all other 
possessions, because it teaches one how to use 
them. 

The young king, therefore, in his dream re- 
plied to God's question : 

"Give me wisdom!" 

And when he had said this he heard God's 
voice again saying: 

"Your choice is good; and because you have 
chosen so w r ell, all other things, such as riches, 
health, power, shall also be given to you. ' ' 

So Solomon became the wisest man in the 

156 



SOLOMON 157 

world. He knew everything that happened on 
the earth, and under ground, in the depths of the 
sea and in the heavens above. When he went out 
for a walk in the fields, he understood what the 
birds were saying to one another; he knew the 
language of all the animals and he understood 
the speech of trees and of flowers. Soon the 
extent of his knowledge became known all over 
the kingdom, and people came to him with diffi- 
cult questions and begged him to act as judge in 
matters in which they could not agree. 

There came one day two women, asking him to 
decide between them. They brought with them a 
young child, and one of them stated her case to 
the king in this way : 

"My lord, the king! This woman and I have 
been living in the same house, and there was no 
one else with us. I gave birth to a son and three 
days later she also gave birth to a son. But this 
woman's child died one night because she care- 
lessly smothered it. On discovering this she 
arose at midnight when I was asleep and took 
my living child from my bosom and put her dead 
child in its place. When I awoke and wished to 
nurse my baby I saw that it was dead and was 
grief-stricken, but in the morning I saw better 
and knew that it was not my child. I under- 
stood the trick that she had played upon me!" 

"It is not so!" broke in the other woman. 



158 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

"The living child is mine and the dead child is 
hers!" 

The first woman was about to retort, but Sol- 
omon stopped her with a gesture. 

"One says the living child is mine and the dead 
child yours, and the other says, no, the dead 
child is yours and the living child mine," he said. 
Turning to an attendant he ordered: "Bring me 
a sword!" 

The attendant brought him a sword. 

"Divide the living child in two," said the 
king, "and give half to one and half to the 
other!" 

He had hardly finished speaking when a pierc- 
ing shriek arose and the woman that had first 
spoken cried: 

"No, do not cut it! Let her have the whole 
child, but do not harm it!" 

But the second woman said sternly : 

"No! Let it be neither mine nor hers; divide 
it!" 

Then the king answered : ' i Give her the living 
child," pointing to the first woman. "She is its 
mother!" 

All the people applauded this decision, and the 
fame of Solomon's wisdom grew. 

Even the animals knew of Solomon's wisdom 
and often came to him to settle their disputes. 



SOLOMON 159 

Once a man came running up to him with a 
serpent coiled round his neck. 

"Judgment!" gasped the man. 

"Judgment!" also hissed the serpent. 

"What is your case against this man?" de- 
manded the king. 

"He wished to rob me!" replied the serpent. 

"It was this way, O king!" interrupted the 
man, speaking with difficulty. "I was walking 
in the field with a jug of milk, when I saw the 
serpent suffering great pain for lack of some- 
thing to drink. I offered him some milk, and in 
return he led me to a rock under which was con- 
cealed a great treasure. As I stooped to pick it 
up, he leaped and coiled round my neck. I 
offered to submit the case to you ; he consented, 
and we came." 

"What do you wish to do to this man?" the 
king asked of the serpent. 

"I wish to kill him because he tried to rob me, 
and the Bible commandment to the serpent is, 
' Thou shalt bruise the heel of man.' " 

"First release your hold of the man's neck," 
said the king. "In court neither party to a law- 
suit has a right to any advantage over the other. " 

The serpent glided to the floor. 

Turning to the man, the king said : 

"To you God's commandment was to bruise 
the head of the serpent — do it!" 



160 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

And the man crushed the serpent's head. 

Solomon resolved to build a magnificent tem- 
ple to God. He wished to build it in such a way 
that no sound of hammer should be heard in the 
house of God. For this purpose it was necessary 
that he get the Shamir, the worm that splits 
rocks noiselessly. Nobody knew where the 
Shamir dwelt, except Ashmodai, chief of the 
demons. From the lesser demons with whom 
Solomon had intercourse he learned of the moun- 
tain where Ashmodai descended to earth and the 
spring at which he drank. He sent Benaiah, son 
of Jehoaida, his right-hand man, to capture the 
great demon. The plan of capture was carefully 
thought out in advance. 

Benaiah took with him a magic ring, upon 
which the name of God was engraved, a chain, a 
bundle of wool, and a skin of wine. Following 
the directions given him, Benaiah came to the 
well on the mountain where Ashmodai drank 
when he visited the earth. First Benaiah 
drained the well of water by boring a hole in its 
lower end. Then he plugged the hole with wool. 
After that he poured the wine into the well. 
Then he climbed a tree, from which he could see 
the well, though himself hidden among the 
foliage. 

He waited several hours until at last he saw 



SOLOMON 161 

the chief of the demons alight upon a rocky 
point. The demon's outstretched wings looked 
immense, like a cloud that covers a quarter of 
the sky. The next instant he had shrunk appar- 
ently to the dimensions of a man and came down 
towards the well. A look of astonishment 
appeared on his face as he put his head over the 
mouth of the well and smelled the wine. He was 
evidently consumed with thirst, yet he tried to 
restrain himself. He muttered wise warnings 
against the danger of tasting wine. But his 
thirst prevailed. He drank deeply again and 
again until he fell asleep. That was what 
Benaiah had been waiting for. He descended 
the tree and fastened the chain round Ash- 
modai's neck. 

On awakening, the demon tried to free himself, 
but Benaiah showed him the ring with the name 
of God engraved upon it. The sight calmed the 
demon and he allowed himself to be led into 
Solomon's presence. 

Finding himself in the power of the wise king, 
Ashmodai willingly told all he knew about the 
Shamir. It was given by God to the angel of the 
sea, he said, and the angel of the sea had en- 
trusted it to the keeping of the moor-hen. The 
moor-hen had sworn to guard it carefully. She 
had taken it with her into the mountains, where 
no men lived. She split rocks with it and sowed 



162 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

seed in the crevices so that the naked rocks might 
be covered with vegetation and become habitable 
by men. 

Solomon sent one of his ablest men to find v the 
moor-hen 's nest. The man traveled through a 
wilderness and then over a rocky desert. At last 
he found the nest with the moor-hen's young in 
it. He had brought some sheets of thick glass 
with him. These he placed over the nest and hid 
himself. When the bird returned she found that 
she could not reach her young. She flew away 
and returned with the shamir in her mouth. She 
held the shamir upon the glass expecting thus to 
crack the glass, but at that moment Solomon's 
man sprang up with shouts and gestures. The 
frightened moor-hen dropped the shamir and 
flew away. The man picked up the worm and 
brought it to Solomon. 

With the aid of the shamir the temple grew 
noiselessly. Solomon employed many thousands 
of men, and his friend Hiram, king of Tyre, sent 
him many thousands of Tyrian laborers to help 
in the work. Nevertheless, the temple was seven 
years in building. The lumber was cut on Mount 
Lebanon, where cedars of great size grew. The 
marble blocks were shaped at the quarries before 
being transported to the temple site. 

Silently the house of God grew to completion, 
like a flower, symmetrical and perfect in every 



SOLOMON 163 

part — with its broad flight of marble steps in 
front, its portico and marble pillars, its beams 
and paneling of cedar-wood carved with lilies, 
palms and cherubs, overlaid with gold. 

Solomon built also a wonderful palace of 
precious stones and carved wood for himself, and 
another palace for his queen, the daughter of the 
king of Egypt. His capital, Jerusalem, became 
a city of beautiful buildings. 

Kings and queens in distant lands heard of 
Solomon's wisdom and magnificence. They all 
wished to be his friends, and many came to 
Jerusalem to see the splendor with their own 
eyes and to hear the wise king's sayings from his 
own lips. 

When the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of 
Solomon, she came to Jerusalem with a great 
train of camels bearing spices, much gold and 
precious stones. It was a long journey from her 
city of Kitor to Solomon's capital, and her com- 
ing was heralded long in advance. And when 
the queen of Sheba had seen all the signs of 
Solomon's wisdom, and the palaces that he had 
built, the great retinue of servants, his ministers 
of state in their gorgeous apparel, his cup- 
bearers and the pomp with which he ascended to 
worship in the house of God, there was no more 
pride in her. And she said to the king : 

"The report was true that I heard in my own 



164 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

land of your acts and your wisdom. I did not 
believe until my eyes had seen. But the half was 
not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity ex- 
ceed your fame." 

She gave Solomon a present of much gold, 
spices and precious stones. And Solomon in 
return gave her many presents, and she asked 
Solomon many hard questions, but he had an- 
swers for all of them. And when the queen of 
Sheba — her name was Balkis — left for home 
with her train of camels and servants, she was 
convinced that nothing was hid from the mind 
of Solomon. 




ELIJAH 



F all the kings of Israel, Ahab did most 
evil in the sight of God. He married 
Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal, king 
of the Zidonians, and, to please her, wor- 
shiped Baal instead of God. He built a temple 
to Baal and an altar in the city of Samaria. He 
made a grove in which the strange rites of Baal 
were celebrated. He did more to provoke the 
God of Israel to anger than all the kings that 
were before him. 

Now Elijah, the Tishbite, from the country of 
Gilead, a prophet of God, appeared before Ahab 
and said: 

"As true as God lives before whom I stand, 
there shall be neither dew nor rain in the land 
except when I give the word." 

It was a strange figure that appeared before 
Ahab and spoke these words. His hair and 
beard were long and uncared for. He wore no 
covering on his feet. A leather girdle and a 
rough shirt of undressed pelt was all the protec- 
tion his body had. 

165 



166 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

Having spoken his warning, the prophet of 
God hurried away and hid in the thickets on the 
banks of the brook Cherith, a small tributary of 
the Jordan. Bread and flesh were brought him 
morning and evening by the ravens, and he 
drank water of the brook. But after a while, 
because of the lack of rain, the brook dried up. 

Then he heard the word of God : 

" Arise, go to Zarephath, which is in Zidon, 
and dwell there! I have commanded a widow 
woman there to sustain you." 

So he arose and went to Zarephath. When he 
came to the gate of the city he saw a woman 
gathering sticks. He called to her and said : 

" Please fetch me a little water in a vessel that 
I may drink." 

As she was going to fetch it, he called to her 
again : 

"Will you bring also a bit of bread?" 

"True as God lives," replied the woman, "I 
have not a loaf in the house, but only a handful 
of flour in a barrel and a little oil in a pitcher. 
I am gathering sticks that I may go in and pre- 
pare it for me and my son, and after that I know 
not what we can do but die." 

"Fear not," said Elijah to her. "Go and do 
as you have said. But make me a small cake of 
it first and bring it to me, and afterwards bake 
for yourself and your son. For thus, says the 



ELIJAH 167 

God of Israel: 'The barrel of meal shall not 
waste nor shall the cruse of oil fail until the day 
that He sends rain upon the earth again/ " 

The woman went and did as Elijah had bidden 
her. And she and he and her son ate many days. 
The barrel of meal did not give out, neither did 
the cruse of oil fail, just as Elijah had spoken. 

II 

Some time later the son of the woman fell sick. 
He grew worse, and finally his heart stopped and 
there was no breath in his body. When the 
woman saw that her son was dead, she re- 
proached the prophet. 

" What have I to do with you, O man of God," 
she cried. "Are you come to call up my old sins 
to remembrance, and to slay my son % Is it for 
this I gave you shelter?" 

"Give me your son!" said the prophet. 

He took the boy from her arms and carried 
him up to the loft where he lodged and laid him 
upon his own bed. Then he cried to God and 
said: 

' i O Lord, my God, have you brought evil upon 
the woman with whom I dwell by slaying her 
son?" 

And then he stretched himself upon the child 
three times and cried : 



168 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

"O Lord, my God, I pray Thee, let this child 's 
soul come into him again !" 

And God heard the voice of Elijah and the 
soul of the child came into him again, and he 
revived. 

Then Elijah took the child and brought him 
down from the attic chamber and delivered him 
to his mother and said: 

"See, your son lives I" 

The woman joyfully clasped her son and cried, 
weeping : 

"You are indeed a man of God. O, now I see 
that the word of God is in your mouth and it is 
truth !" 

III 

Three years passed. 

And Elijah heard the word of God saying: 

"Go show thyself unto Ahab, and I will send 
rain upon the earth.' ' 

So Elijah went to show himself to Ahab. 

Now there was a great famine in the land be- 
cause of the lack of rain. And Ahab the king 
had said to Obadiah, the steward of his house- 
hold: 

"Let us go out into the country and look for 
spring and brooks. Perhaps we shall find grass 
for the horses and mules, so we shall not lose all 
the beasts.' ' 



ELIJAH 169 

And they started out in opposite directions. 

As Obadiah was going on his way seeking good 
pasture, Elijah met him. Obadiah knew the 
prophet and bowed to the ground. 

"Are you not Elijah, my lord?" 

Elijah answered him: "I am. Go tell your 
master Elijah is here." 

But Obadiah exclaimed: "How have I sinned 
that you would have Ahab slay me ? There is no 
nation or kingdom whither he has not sent to 
seek you. And when they said you were not 
there, he made them swear an oath. Now you 
say i Go tell my lord, Elijah is here. ' And if I do, 
as soon as I am gone the spirit of the Lord will 
carry you I know not where. You will dis- 
appear. And when Ahab comes to look for you 
and does not find you, he will kill me." 

Elijah replied: "As the Lord of Hosts lives, 
before whom I stand, I will surely show myself 
to Ahab to-day." 

So Obadiah went to look for Ahab and told 
him. Ahab followed Obadiah to the place where 
he had left Elijah, and when Ahab saw Elijah he 
said: 

"Are you he that troubles Israel?" 

Elijah answered: 

"I have not troubled Israel, but you and your 
father's house, in that you have forsaken the 
commandments of God and have followed Baal. 



170 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

Do you wish to test the question which of these 
two should be obeyed? Send and gather all 
Israel at Mount Carmel, and four hundred and 
fifty of the prophets of Baal, and of the grove- 
prophets that eat at Jezebel's table. " 

Ahab accepted the challenge. He sent mes- 
sengers to summon the people and gathered the 
prophets together at Mount Carmel. 

When the people and the prophets of Baal had 
collected, Elijah mounted a rock and faced the 
multitude. 

"How long do you halt between two opin- 
ions?" he cried. "If God be God, follow him. 
But if Baal, then follow him!" 

There was silence. 

The prophet of God went on : 

"I alone remain a prophet of God; but Baal's 
prophets number four hundred and fifty. Give 
us two bullocks and let them choose one for them- 
selves, cut it in pieces, and lay it on wood and 
put no fire under. I will dress the other bullock 
and lay it on wood and put no fire under. Let 
them call on the name of Baal and I will call on 
the name of the Lord. He that answers by fire, 
let him be God." 

All the people shouted : 

"It is well spoken!" 

Turning to the prophets of Baal, Elijah said: 



ELIJAH 171 

"Choose you one bullock for yourselves and 
dress it first; for you are many. Call on the 
name of your gods, but put no fire under/ ' 

They took the bullock and dressed it and laid 
it on wood upon an altar they had made. They 
then encircled the sacrifice and began calling on 
the name of Baal : 

"O Baal, hear us!" they cried. 

From morning until noon they continued to 
call, but there was no answer. They leaped upon 
the altar frantically; they cut themselves with 
knives and lancets, after their fashion, until the 
blood gushed. 

At noon Elijah mocked them: 

"Cry aloud, for he is a god! Either he is 
talking, or out hunting, or on a journey, or 
maybe he is sleeping, and must be awakened!" 

They continued their outcry until evening, but 
there was no voice, nor any one to answer or to 
take notice. 

At sunset Elijah said to the assembled people : 

"Come nearer!" 

They gathered around him and he put the altar 
of God in order, placed wood upon it, cut the 
bullock in pieces and laid these upon the wood. 
And he made a trench around the altar and said 
to the people: 

"Pour water upon the sacrifice and fill the 
trench with water J " 



172 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

They brought four barrels of water and wet 
the sacrifice. 

"Do it again !" he said. 

They poured on more water. 

"Do it a third time !" he cried. 

They poured on still more water, and it ran 
down and filled the trench around the altar. 

The sun had now set. 

It was the time of the customary evening sacri- 
fice. 

Elijah now raised his arms to heaven, and 
said: 

"Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let 
it be known this day that Thou art God in Israel 
and that I am Thy servant, and that I have done 
all these things at Thy command! Hear me, O 
Lord, hear me, that this people may know that 
Thou hast turned their heart back again!" 

As soon as he had finished speaking fire 
fell out of the sky upon the altar. It burnt the 
sacrifice and the wood and the stones, and licked 
up the water. 

When the people saw this, they fell upon their 
knees, bowed their heads to the ground, and 
cried : 

"The Lord is our God! The Lord is our 
God!" 

Then Elijah said to the people: 



ELIJAH 173 

" Seize the prophets of Baal; let not one of 
them escape !" 

IV 

When Ahab told his queen Jezebel about the 
defeat of the prophets of Baal and how they had 
been slain at the brook Kishon, she swore an 
oath: 

"So let the gods do to me and more if I make 
not his life as one of them by to-morrow ! ' ' 

Elijah hearing of this, ran for his life and 
came to Beersheba. There he left his servant 
and went on alone a day's journey into the wil- 
derness. He came to a juniper tree and sat down 
under it exhausted. Then he prayed to God to 
end his life. 

"It is enough," he prayed. "Now, O Lord, 
take away my life, for I am not better than my 
fathers!" 

As he lay, he fell asleep under the juniper tree 
and an angel came and touched him and said : 

"Arise and eat!" 

He looked, and there was a cake baked on 
glowing coals, and at his head stood a cruse of 
water. 

He ate and drank, and lay down again. 

The angel came a second time, and touched 
him, saying : 



174 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 

" Arise and eat, for the journey is a long one !" 

He arose, ate and drank, and went in the 
strength of that food forty days until he came 
to Horeb, the mount of God. There he lodged in 
a cave, and after a time God caused a great wind 
to pass by, that rent the mountain and broke the 
rocks in pieces. But God was not in the wind. 
And after the wind came an earthquake, but God 
was not in the earthquake. And after the earth- 
quake came a fire, but God was not in the fire. 
And after the fire came a still, small voice, and 
when Elijah heard it he arose, wrapped his face 
in his mantle, and went to the entrance of the 
cave. 

"What doest thou here, Elijah?" asked the 
voice. 

The prophet replied: 

"I have been very jealous for the Lord God of 
Hosts, because the children of Israel have broken 
their covenant, thrown down thine altars, and 
slain thy prophets. I only am left and they seek 
my life." 

"Return," said the voice of God, "and anoint 
Jehu, the son of Mmshi, to be king of Israel in- 
stead of Ahab, and appoint Elisha, the son of 
Shaphat, to be prophet in your place!" 

By that Elijah knew that he was to leave the 
world. He went and found Elisha, the son of 
Shaphat, plowing with a yoke of oxen in the 



ELIJAH 175 

field. As he passed by, he threw his mantle upon 
him. Immediately Elisha left the oxen and ran 
after Elijah. 

"Let me go and kiss my father and mother 
good-by, and then I will follow you," he ex- 
claimed. 

And after that Elisha was the prophet's con- 
stant companion. Elijah knew that God wished 
to take him up into heaven by a whirlwind, and 
as the two were walking together from the city 
of Gilgal, Elijah said to his disciple: 

"Stay here a while, pray, for the Lord has sent 
me to Bethel." 

But Elisha knew also what was in Elijah's 
mind, and he replied : 

"Sure as God lives and as you live I will not 
leave you!" 

So they went together to Bethel. 

From Bethel they went to Jericho, and from 
Jericho to the Jordan. 

Elisha never left his master. At the Jordan 
Elijah rolled up his mantle and struck the water, 
and it divided so that they passed over on dry 
ground. 

When they were on the other shore, Elijah 
said: 

"Ask what I shall do for you before I am 
taken away." 

Elisha replied: 



176 OLD TESTAMENT HEROES 



"Let a double portion of your spirit be in me." 

"You ask a hard thing," replied Elijah. 
"Nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken 
from you, you shall have your wish." 

They went on conversing, and as they talked, 
suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire came 
down from heaven in front of them and drove 
straight between them. Hands snatched Elijah 
into the chariot, and it rose like a whirlwind into 
the sky. But Elijah's mantle fluttered to the 
ground. 

Elisha saw and cried: 

"My father! My father! The chariot of 
Israel and the riders thereof!" 

He saw Elijah no more. He rent his clothes, 
picked up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen 
from the master, and went back alone to the 
bank of the Jordan. He had seen Elijah taken 
up into heaven. He had his wish. 



The End 



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